Unexpected
by Itooshii Koneko
Summary: "Team Seven, your mission is to capture a group of mercenaries hidden in a civilian village. Sasuke and Naruto, you're married. Naruto, you're pregnant. And Sakura, you're her personal doctor" … "WHAT?". SasuFemNaru. Don't like don't read!
1. Prologue

A/N: After a long wait (torture) for you –my lovely readers, the best ever- and certainly for my beta too, the beta-ed version of the story is finally done, thanks to my amazing, great, talented, kind and lifesaver beta _MrsHellman_, you'll see for yourself how much the fic became better now, my eyesore mistakes won't hurt your eyes anymore!

I enabled the anonymous reviews to let you re-review the story if you want to ^^

Disclaimer: I assured Masashi Kishimoto that I will take great care of Naruto, that he won't regret giving him to me, I even offered to cook Ramen for every meal, so he won't feel homesick, but he refused –narrows her eyes- At least, we're going to meet a second time –starts thinking about the next negotiation with Kishimoto- I was never good in negotiations –sigh- I don't own Naruto, but one day he'll be MINE –devil laugh-

Here is the prologue, enjoy!

**Chapter 0: Prologue  
**_Written by Itooshii Koneko_**  
**_Betad by MrsHellman_

_Please let me drink myself unconscious. It's too hot to stay locked up in a suffocating office, it's literally a hellhole. Even with the air conditioner on, there isn't enough air in to breath!_ That's Tsunade's line of thought this blessed Monday, the 17th of June to be exact.

The sun was shining vigorously, the sky was astonishingly blue and clear, there were no clouds claiming the skies. Shikamaru must be bored as hell. Sure, maybe the genius of the rookie nine was bored because of his dear clouds not being there, but it's nothing compared to what our dear Hokage-sama was feeling. She was really pissed off for some reason. Being trapped in your office _nine hours_ nonstop on a hot summer day isn't exactly the best plan ever. To top it off, she was stuck with thick piles of paperwork; and then, to make thing worse than imaginable; Shizune had taken her saké from her so that she'd finish writing the document that should have been finished three days ago.

"Hokage-sama, Team Eight is already back!" That was Shizune's announcement as she rushed in through the door, the wood hitting the wall behind it, creating a small crack.

_What now? Kami-sama, I need a break, give me a fucking break! There's no saké, no good cooling system in entire Konoha and then there's these damn documents_, Tsunade sighed looking at the door as it hit said wall.

"Send them in," Tsunade ordered tiredly. _How come they are already back? Did the mission fail? It sure looks like it,_ she thought cautiously inspecting the appearance of the three members of Team Eight as they entered the room. Kiba looked frustrated, Hinata seemed to be a bit tired and Shino . . . well, he looked like usual, his mysterious aura adding more worry and frustration to Tsunade. She frowned.

_They look fine, but what's the matter? They're my best team when it comes to tracking enemies, at least out of all the Chūnin_, she thought and studied them from head to toes.

The three ninjas were sent to The Land of Earth to locate and capture a group of mercenaries. There wasn't enough information about them, and Team Eight's tracking abilities came in handy for this kind of mission. Their last report mentioned that the mercenaries were heading to a civilian village located in the North West part of the country, close to Iwagakure. It was two weeks ago, so what had exactly happened since then? The mission had been assigned to last for over ten months . . .

"Hokage-sama?" This brought Tsunade's attention to Shino, the captain of Team Eight for this mission: Kurenai being home with her child, which had been given birth to three months ago.

"Why are you already back? By the look on your faces, the mission is a failure," She said; it wasn't visible on the outside that she was worried, but her insides were as uneasy as a rock balancing on a stick. She cared for all her ninja. If these mercenaries aren't captured; they're going to be in deep trouble . . .

The mission is an A-ranked mission, with the collaboration of Sunagakure, Iwagakure and Konohagakure. Suna found out that these mercenaries were buying and stealing dangerous weapons and jutsu scrolls, they didn't know if the mercenaries were selling them or keeping them for their own needs. It started with them losing a precious jutsu scrolls two months ago, and then it continued like that for every week passing by; every time more scrolls were being stolen . . .

Iwagakure had been the ones to become aware of this and noticed the strange behavior of their inns' owners; they hadn't registered at least _twenty customers _during the past two months. The people's identity being unknown.

The biggest problem right now though, is that Iwagakure is usually being visited a lot by foreigners during the summer months – people are fascinated by the rocks and waterfalls in the village, and will thereby visit it during its best – so there are _thousands _of tourists there, making it hard to find the culprits. For some reason though, strange things started to happen during late May and all of it started in Iwagakure, but then it spread to more villages. The north-west parts of the country were the most exposed parts, and the only villages they hadn't searched in were the ones that were not shinobi villages.

It was because of this Iwagakure finally asked for Sunagakure's and Konohagakure's help. It didn't take long for them to find out that some of the mercenaries were identified as missing ninjas from Konohagakure as well as Iwagakure thanks to the way the scrolls and weapons were stolen.

Other villages are involved in this mess but they have yet to make a move. There's namely a huge possibility that their own men are a part of this, but the evidence are very few. Tsunade wondered why they hadn't made a move yet, and for some reason it worried her as well. She'd sent them messages about the situation but none of them except for Sunagakure had replied. _Damn Kage's pride_, she thought bitterly and clenched her fists.

"We're sorry Hokage-sama," replied Kiba with regret and shame in his voice. His voice brought her back from her thoughts about the current situation, and she looked up at him.

"We did gather some information though. There is a huge possibility of the mercenaries hiding in Ishigakure, a bit north from Iwagakure. We are quite affirmative in the matter," explained Shino, wiping the shameful look from Kiba's face but leaving the regret and worry still in place. "We tried to infiltrate the village," he kept going, "but we were stopped by the main gate guards. Ninjas are not allowed in Ishigakure, for them we are a source of trouble and they want to protect their village. They are conservative people and also give a great deal concerning family values". He paused for effect, letting Tsunade register this uncommon fact. Usually ninjas are welcomed in civilian villages, conservative or not, they can be kept under surveillance but never be kicked out – as long as they're behaving of course.

_The perfect hideout, _Tsunade conclude then frowned looking at Kiba's and Hinata's flushed expression. She narrowed her eyes as she noticed that the Hyūga heiress was on the verge of fainting. _Is she sick?_

"Kiba and Hinata acted like a newlywed couple and were able to get in," added Shino handing Tsunade a thick pile of paper. "Here's our report with different details about their activities and personal information concerning the people we believe may be a part of the organization. We also tried to perform a general profile to an eventual member—" that caught Tsunade's attention immediately, "—we think that they recruited two new members when they were in Iwagakure a couple of days before we left, it's an 85 percent probability"

"Organization?" she spit the word out like she never heard it before "They're more dangerous than we thought then; especially if they're recruiting new members. They've got to have contacts all over the Land of Earth along with other countries as well. This is bad . . ." she sighed. "Did they learn about you watching them?"

"No, of course not! We're better than that! We were very careful; we kept our distances since we didn't know much about them," replied Kiba with a frown. He may have been an immature brat in the academy, but he was now a ninja and knew how to act and handle missions.

"Good."_ At least they can still keep up with the mission_, Tsunade thought and let her tongue smack against the roof of her mouth.

"We suspect the leaders of Ishi to be the brain of these actions," Kiba shared his suspicions with Tsunade, who looked at him stunned. She was about to ask for more details when he added, "There's no way to move with weapons and jutsus scrolls in there without being spotted, we think that the guards are in the game too."

Tsunade clenched her fists as she heard this. _Okay, that means that the mercenaries couldn't get in without the help of someone from Ishi_. For someone inside Ishigakure to be a part of it, this doesn't bode well.

"They kicked you out," stated the Godaime while looking at the report in hand. "Why?" and here we go. For some reason, a blush came onto Kiba and Hinata's faces; full force. _I wonder what happened if these two are blushing like mad, can't be anything good,_ wondered Tsunade eyeing Kiba and Hinata with a raised brow.

Since those two weren't really talkative, Shino chose to reply in their place.

"The guards let them come in but they were quickly suspected by the village's council; they did not act as a married couple is my guess. They were followed twenty-four-seven and could not keep up with the mission or else they were going to blow up their cover. So we decided to retreat back to Konoha. We could not take that chance. My sincere apologies Hokage-sama."

"W-we're sorry Hokage-sama," Hinata apologized shyly. She was the one who couldn't play her role, it was her fault . . . If only she was more confident and less shy, they would have found and – hopefully – captured someone of that dangerous organization, and everything would have been settled once and for all.

"It's okay," Tsunade reassured her with a soft smile painted on her lips. "You collected enough information to keep up with the research." She looked back to the report, then to Shino. "What is this? Your insects couldn't get inside a certain tunnel in the village? Did you manage to learn more about it?"

"No. My bugs were trapped in a genjutsu and could not come in or out. I almost lost them. We could not confirm if that tunnel is known by Iwagakure's authorities. In the last updated map, which is two years old, they did not have any tunnel in the south part of Ishi. It is either a new construction or a project not meant to be known by the public." The blonde Hokage arched a brow at this as she continued to read the paper before her.

"The south part of Ishigakure is in the neighborhood of the north-west part of Iwagakure, so we think that this tunnel leads to Iwagakure. It must be their way to bring their weapons secretly and stay in touch with their comrades." _They did a great job, hopefully this information will be enough for us to do a drastic change and flip the tables._ Tsunade thought and was secretly proud of her ninjas.

"W-while we were there; I saw a group of men heading to the south part of Ishi. T-they were wearing miner uniforms. We think that the t-tunnel is under construction, maybe they want to expand it to r-reach other villages," explained the Hyūga heiress. "They were all ninjas, I c-confirmed it with my Byakugan. The guards of the m-main gates are ninjas too. Some villagers also had a c-constant chakra flow." The Hokage's lips tightened at this. "When I began to ask q-questions about these people I noticed that the group of people following us enlarged."

They'd been watching them since the first day they put foot in Ishigakure, Tsunade concluded with a sigh. All foreigners are considered evil coming to destroy their peaceful village. Hinata was stunned to see that Ishigakure was indeed a very peaceful village. She understood them. She would do anything to protect her village too. Unfortunately not all ninjas sought peace; they're rather fond of power, and thereby, wars and destruction are born.

"They want to protect their village f-from outsiders, for them we'll only bring war and s-sorrow." Her expression was sad and thoughtful.

"But they're collecting too many weapons if their purpose is only protecting themselves," Kiba said and folded his arms over his chest.

"We do not know if the organization is hiding their true plan from Ishi or not, we did not find any evidence proving that there is a connection between these mercenaries and Ishi's leader," Shino explained to the frowning Hokage.

After a brief silence, Tsunade spoke: "Very well. I'm going to send another team and inform Suna and Iwa about everything. You're dismissed." That ended the meeting.

When she heard the sound of the door shut, she sighed, closed Team Eight's report and put it on the right corner of her desk. _Which team is suited for this mission? The ninjas must have some precise characteristics. They must pass as a family. And most importantly, they must be eventual recruits_. The performed profile will certainly provide Tsunade enough information about the characteristics of the next team.

"Why's their report so 'thick'?" she moaned quietly to no one in particular "SHIZUNE! Give me my fucking sake right now, or I _won't_ do any paper work for today!" Screamed a very frustrated Hokage feeling the heat of this summer day tenfold, but she mentally gave herself a pat on the back for her little outburst. _This little threat is foolproof._ She hadn't had a break yet for heavenly sake!

"No way Tsunade, you still have to finish this pile of paperwork before you're free," replied her assistant with a small nervous frown on her face. She put an nth pile of paper on her desk in front of the Hokage and a vein popped on said Hokage's forehead. She was never going to be let out from this hellhole.

Really short? I know, this is just the prologue –a hors d'oeuvre-, next chapters are longer don't worry.

Please leave a review, and let us know what you think!


	2. Team 7

Disclaimer: -in the middle of a staring contest with Masashi Kishimoto- "You're no fun Masashi!".

I can't believe it, I chose the best French restaurant in Paris –the music is very relaxing, the lights warm and romantic– (No! I'm not trying to seduce Kishimoto mind you) I told him that his work is finished, even a masterpiece has its ending, sooo since he's a very kind man why not give Naruto to me?, great idea doesn't it? Yeah, really great I know, but he doesn't think the same –pouts- So, me doesn't own Naruto … yet –grin-

Chapter one for you, enjoy!

**Chapter one: Team 7**  
_Written by Itooshii Koneko  
Betad by MrsHellman_

It was a beautiful sunny day – luckily less hot than three days ago – but still hot all the same. It was a perfect day to hang out and just have fun. Team Seven opted to train, so they were in their usual spot at the training grounds; each one was working alone, no sparring for today. Haruno Sakura was reading; it was too hot to do any physical effort according to her. She chose to read a medical book that was recommended by Tsunade.

Uzumaki Naruto on the other hand didn't mind the heat at all. Training is important to become a powerful ninja and it's the only way to reach her goal: to be the best Hokage ever – as well as to be acknowledged by the villagers, of course. Being a girl wasn't really helping, she didn't have the same musculature as a guy, so she needed to put up more effort, but that doesn't mean that women are weak. Look at Tsunade and they say that to her face to get it proven. However, about Naruto; unlike Sakura, she didn't have a perfect control over her chakra; she had no talent to become a medic-nin. Besides, she liked to fight and use her body; it gave her those adrenaline kicks she craved so much for, why? No idea.

The last member of Team Seven, Uchiha Sasuke, was meditating – protected from the burning sun by a tree's shadow. If it wasn't for the chakra halo surrounding him, he could be mistaking for being asleep. His surroundings were very tranquil; the small sounds of the leaves being blown by the wind, and the beautiful songs of chaffinches built a peaceful atmosphere, even Naruto's kicks, pants and occasional curses weren't disturbing at all.

When lunch time came, Sakura got up, brushed off the dust on her black skirt and waved her teammates off, ready to go to the Hokage tower.

"Well, I'm off. I promised Tsunade to come after lunch break," she said waiting for Sasuke to reply, but he didn't even acknowledge her presence. She frowned and then looked over at Naruto who was still trying to beat a log to death – good luck on that – and then looked back at Sasuke. She didn't really want to let Sasuke-kun alone with Naruto, but she knew that her female teammate wasn't going to do anything stupid. For some reason, whenever she left the two of them alone and later on returned, they were in a fight, spitting profanities at each other.

Haruno Sakura, young kunoichi of sixteen years, was not the most beautiful girl in Konoha but she stood out with her intelligence, her frightening strength – her fists being more destructive than a man's – and her amazing skills in medical-oriented jutsu, made her a very talented ninja in general, and as many know; true beauty is not only outer appearance.

She was Tsunade's apprentice and seemed to be doing just as well as her own sensei. Like every healthy teenager girl, Sakura Haruno liked to take care of her appearance and of course she had a crush on a certain someone – even though her feelings had changed since younger years. That someone was Sasuke Uchiha, her male teammate, the one who'd been her 'love at first sight'. She was still showing affection for the Uchiha because, sure he was attractive and all, and who was she to ignore that? But recently she'd discovered that it wasn't that much of a crush anymore, she had more sincere feelings for the Uchiha. She'd only realized them after spending time with the man. She'd got to know him personally, instead of only judging by appearance. She was willing to let him love someone else; however, it didn't mean she wouldn't sincerely try to win him over.

The pinkette smiled and she remembered everything she'd done during her younger years. She'd tried everything to win Sasuke's heart because of a mere crush, but the young Uchiha boy didn't care about her as a potential girlfriend. So, back when she was fifteen, Sakura had decided to stop bothering the guy and let him be. He wasn't interested in girls as it seemed, and when the time comes, he'll open his eyes and find a person he holds close to his heart, hoping that said person will be her.

Sakura's smile widened as she realized how stupid she'd been. She couldn't understand what was wrong with her back then. She had seen herself as cute, intelligent and beautiful, so why wouldn't Sasuke love her? She was Sasuke's closest girl friend for heaven's sake – Naruto didn't count; she was like a boy anyway – but she'd also been very clingy, loud and obstinate. You name it. She sighed.

As the woman turned her back on her female and walked out from the training grounds, she passed Sasuke – still engrossed by his meditation – and Naruto. The blonde was working her abs, and she could even hear Naruto mutter to herself: ". . . five hundred and eighty-three, five hundred and eighty-four, five hundred and eighty-five . . ." That girl amazed her, always overdoing herself, she was really powerful already but to herself it was nowhere near enough. She'd be the death or herself.

She made a grimace when she saw Naruto's disgraceful figure. She was sweating too much. _My God . . . She must be stinking like Gai-sensei after five hundred laps around Konoha on one hand. And she spreads her legs like a guy._ Sakura was always wondering if that girl was a lesbian, especially when she asked Sakura to have lunch at Ichiraku with her. She wondered what women was Naruto's type.

She shrugged, and then left the field.

Ten minutes after Sakura's departure, Sasuke was disturbed by a loud growl. He frowned and opened slightly his left eye. He noticed that Naruto was finished. She was sprawled all over the ground caressing her loud and hungry stomach with bruised fists. He smirked.

_So loud, even with her mouth shut, her stomach can't stand the silence and takes over._ It didn't matter to the raven though. For some reason, Sasuke found Naruto's loudness more amusing than annoying.

"Hey Sasuke, I'm hungry, I'm going to have lunch by the lake, you coming?" Naruto screamed from the other side of the field and then smiled at Sasuke waiting for his reply.

"You're so loud, Dobe," was Sasuke's reply while getting up. _She's never tired; I wish I had her stamina. But if it's the reason for her being so loud, no thanks, I don't need it_.

"Don't call me Dobe, Teme!" she yelled at him, aiming a punch straight to his face. Sasuke saw it coming and blocked it with his left arm. He tried to twist her right arm behind her back, but she bent down and tried to kick his ankles to trip him. He jumped and skillfully landed ten feet away from her. He was smirking, his expression as composed as ever. He was neither panting nor sweating, as if he hadn't lifted a single finger. After all, it was like a game for them. Another angry growl reminded them that they were going to have lunch. Naruto grinned sheepishly rubbing the back of her head.

"As nice as it sounds to kick your ass Teme, I'm off. I'm too hungry to take care of your bastard attitude right now. Let's have lunch; I'm going to di~ie if I don't have my ramen soon!" she shouted the last sentence dramatically.

"Hn, like you can actually beat anyone in a spar, let alone me, Dobe. Don't be so full of yourself," Sasuke replied with a superior tone to his voice that made Naruto arch a brow. He smirked as he noticed that she was getting pissed; he loved to get a reaction out of her. It was fun.

"Teme! Of course I can kick your ass anytime I want to, you bastard!" she retorted childishly and folded her arms over her chest. Her face flushed from anger. Sasuke knew how to push her buttons and he was doing it very well.

Guess Sakura was right about the two of them always ending up fighting . . .

They kept bickering the whole way to the lake. When they'd reached their destination, Naruto opened her bag. It was full of instant ramen cups. There were_ three_ cups but only _one_ bottle of water.

_Hopeless, she really eats nothing other than ramen, and she drinks way too little. She'd going to get dehydrated,_ Sasuke thought making a disgusted face; he would never understand his teammate's tastes.

Well it didn't matter, he wasn't the one to eat it. He looked away from the sickening view of Naruto's eating habits. He opened his own – more appealing – bento. It was a bento filled with onigiri, but there was also a healthy salad full of tomatoes present. He smiled. His mother always knew how to prepare and decorate his bento. Knowing her son's taste, there was more tomatoes than lettuce. He took a first and tiny bit, and moaned mentally. His mother was the best; you can feel all the kindness and love in her cooking. It made him all warm inside. He was the youngest son of the head family, always shadowed by his older brother, Itachi, the genius of the Uchiha clan, a real prodigy – cherished and admired by everyone.

Mikoto Uchiha – Sasuke's mother – was the only person to care about him. She kept saying that Fugaku – Sasuke's 'oh-so-wonderful' father – loved him and cared about him, but since his father had never showed it – even once – during the sixteen years of his existence, he never believed her. Now, he didn't care about his cold father and cocky brother, he had his mother and the rest doesn't matter for him. One day, he'd show them all that he was worthy of being an Uchiha.

He always wondered how his mother was putting up with his father, she was too kind and deserved so much better than that man. That thought made him think about the girls tailing the Uchiha like they can bear living with them, especially the sons of the head family.

_They're only looking for wealth and society status, plain stupid, like we're going to pick them_, he thought. Honestly though, he didn't want to pick just any girl – especially not one of his 'fangirls'. They were bothersome and as an Uchiha – intelligent, powerful, graceful and beautiful – he'd have to have a wife of high standards to make sure his children would have good blood. Unfortunately, he hadn't met a girl that could become a potential wife.

A surprisingly loud slurp disturbed Sasuke's thought.

"You no' huwwy Shashuke?" Naruto asked him with her mouth full with ramen, a noodle hanging out from the right corner of her mouth. "I mean . . . are you not hungry?" she asked again after catching that naughty noodle with her skillful tongue. Sasuke's face twisted in disgust looking at his teammate's hand wiping the ramen sauce away with her sleeve.

His stomach flipped. "Kami . . . You're disgusting," he said and looked back at his lunch and understood why his teammate asked him if he wasn't hungry anymore. He'd eaten less than half his lunch.

"Are you sick? You're not feeling good?" she insisted, putting her wrist on Sasuke's forehead to check his temperature. The raven flinched at the contact and pushed her hand away "Don't touch me with your dirty hand," he hissed harshly, glaring at her.

"Tsk, stuck up Teme," she said, retreating her hand – not impressed by the glare one bit. "You weren't eating, I was just checking your temperature, you ungrateful bastard," she whispered the last part. She was truly worried actually. The raven was in deep thought, as if he was trying to figure something out.

Sasuke looked back at Naruto, of course he caught the last part, and it made him feel a bit guilty. She looked really worried about him. Naruto was the only girl in Konoha to be sincere with him. She didn't have a crush on him, and it reassured him a lot. Well, the girl not only acted like a boy, but she also kicked like a boy, though, he would never admit that out loud. She never held back when they're sparring – that's why he never sparred with Sakura, she always holds back unconsciously. He knew that she's very strong, but she never challenged him, unlike Naruto.

The Uchiha was the only boy in the rookie nine to be stuck with two girls in his team. He'd been scared as hell to have two fan-girls as teammates. He'd never surpass his brother if his teammates are useless during training and missions, but fortunately for him, after their first training as Team Seven, four years ago, he was relieved to find out that one of his teammates was a tomboy, ready to dirty her clothes and kick some ass anytime. _And . . . _she didn't have a crush on him. On the contrary, the girl seemed to hate his guts. Besides, Naruto was quite amusing, she always made a fool of herself, especially when she tried to 'kick his ass' as she put it.

"Oi, earth to Sasuke, earth to Sasuke!" Naruto screamed at his face and waved a slender hand in front of said face.

"Shut up, Dobe," he said and blinked. He couldn't help but notice that her knuckles were still bruised. However, he was more distracted by the fact that her face was less than a foot away from his. "Back off, Uzumaki," he suddenly said and pushed her away roughly, by the shoulders. "Don't you know what personal space means?"

"Fuck you asshole! You weren't replying, what's crawled up your ass today?" she asked and chuckled, her chuckles only increased as she noticed that the Uchiha didn't approve of her vocabulary. "You always have something crawled up your ass anyway, but today must be something really uncomfortable, maybe a dead animal rotting up there?"

"Hn." There was no need to give a proper reply to such a question.

Before they could begin another round of bickering, they sensed Sakura's presence. Naruto grinned and turned to look at Sakura with a wide grin. "Sakura-chan!" she shouted waving to her friend. "The old hag let you leave early. You came to have lunch with us?" she asked hoping that her answer would be a 'yes'.

"No! Baka," she growled glaring at her stupid teammate. "We have a mission. Hokage-sama is waiting for us," she said looking at Sasuke who nodded and went to pick up his bento and bag. Naruto followed his lead and they headed to the Hokage tower wondering what this new mission was.

"Sakura-chan, did Baa-chan tell you what this mission is about?" Naruto asked bouncing before Sakura's face like an excited puppy. Said pinkette pushed her away from her body.

"Stop jumping like a child Naruto! And no! She didn't explain anything about the mission. She only asked me to come and get you," she answered with her eyes rolling. The blonde had been asking the same question several times now, getting the same answer every time as well.

"Wish it's a high ranked mission. We haven't had an exciting mission for ages." No one replied, but they all agreed with her. They'd been given mostly C and B-ranked missions if anything, but they shouldn't complain really; it wasn't a D-ranked one, however, it wasn't A-ranked either.

When they reached the Hokage tower, they found Shizune waiting for them; she rushed them in to Tsunade's office at once, muttering about being late and them being out of saké. Sasuke nodded to Tsunade while Naruto chose to great her . . .warmly?

"Oi, Baa-chan, you're as grumpy as ever I see," she said with a wide grin and put her hands in the front of her pants, rolling on her heels to get a movement going. It couldn't be healthy to be this hyper all the time.

"Brat, you're as disrespectful as ever! You better shut up or you'll kiss the mission goodbye," Tsunade bit back and smirked when she saw Naruto's pout, a really cute expression by the way. It was their weird way to welcome each other, even if the words were sometimes harsh; they both knew that they meant something kinder and warmer.

"I have a mission for you . . ." she said and then began to explain what Team Eight had already found.

"I want you to capture these mercenaries. Iwagakure is keeping an eye on them already but they will need some Konoha shinobi to take on Ishigakure. We know for sure that they're still in that village and you need to find them. You must infiltrate the village and investigate to identify the boss of this organization. We believe he's in there, however, if he isn't, try and gather as much information as possible," she explained and began to clarify their objectives.

"You want us to go undercover," Naruto asked incredulously.

"Yes," Tsunade replied even if it wasn't really necessary, but it was a perfect transition, "and we've already prepared your covers."

"We?" Sasuke asked rising his eyebrow.

"Yes, 'we' meaning me and Team Eight. They advised me since they were in contact with the villagers."

None of the members from Team Seven answered her. Instead, they looked at each other quizzically, wondering what the heck Tsunade had prepared for them.

"What the hell Baa-chan? Spit it out already, we don't have the whole day!" Naruto shouted, annoyed with Tsunade's silence. "Is it something disgusting or degrading?" she asked skeptically. She didn't trust Tsunade at all when it came to making covers.

"Shut up, Naruto! Don't yell at Tsunade-sama," Sakura lectured her teammate holding back her fist from crashing into Naruto's thick skull. _That girl is really getting on my nerves!_

"Very well, listen; Team Seven your mission is to capture a group of mercenaries hiding in Ishi. Sasuke and Naruto, you're a married couple. Naruto, you're pregnant, and Sakura, you're her personal doctor," and finally, she said it.

She was met with complete silence.

"What?" they all screamed, including the composed Uchiha, who lost his composer hearing Tsunade's plan. He was supposed to be married to Naruto, who in turn was supposed to be pregnant with their child?

"Are you senile, Baa-chan? You need to go check your brain and make sure you're getting enough oxygen! Me? Pregnant? Out of everything! And married!" Naruto yelled "Why am I the one who has to be the bastard's wife while it's Sakura-chan who has been crushing on him since _years _back! She'd make it a hell of a lot more believable thanks to that."

"Yeah!" Sakura screamed agreeing with Naruto for once. "W-why do we have to . . . to do that? We can be siblings, can't we? Or friends or something," she tried miserably to get Tsunade to change her mind about this.

As his two teammates were yelling at the oldest woman in the room, the raven's mind was spinning like crazy. Sasuke didn't want to be anyone's husband, not Naruto's and absolutely not Sakura's; she would take advantage of the situation. He shuddered, like hell he'll play that role.

"Shut up! Both of you!" Tsunade knew that they were going to disagree with her. She sighed and started to explain her choice to them.

"First, I'm the Hokage here and I chose whoever I see suitable for this mission, you don't have the right to complain," she spat glaring at Naruto who was about to protest again- "Let me finish, you brat! Second, I didn't choose you randomly," she said and sighed. She'd been prepared for Naruto to say all these things, but damn, the blonde had to let her explain her reasoning.

"I explained already that ninjas aren't allowed in Ishigakure, that's why you need to go undercover. Sakura, your medical skills will allow you to pass as a doctor and be in contact with lots of villagers. They'll trust you easily and it's going to help with the investigation." Sakura nodded showing her understanding, "You're good in genjutsu. I need to know what's behind that tunnel as well, so when you're not around Naruto or Sasuke you can do pretty much anything to get more information about the tunnel, the people in the village, the actual organization et cetera."

Sakura nodded before Tsunade proceeded and turned to the raven. "Sasuke, you fit with the profile set by Team Eight. You must act warmer around your 'wife' though. The mercenaries are recruiting strong and cold men, so for the meantime, you should make sure you catch their interest by acting cold." Naruto couldn't help but snicker at that – gaining a heated glare from a fuming Tsunade and Sakura. "If we find it necessary to get information from the inside, you may be a candidate, but not yet. Keep that in mind." Naruto snorted as she heard this and arched a brow at the raven male beside her.

The Godaime sighed, getting tired of being interrupted, but she went on. _Must get it over with_, she thought.

"You must look like a very protective father and husband toward Naruto. We don't know if it's really an important characteristic but we have to give it a go." Sasuke nodded expressing his understanding and determination.

_Now to Naruto,_ she thought, looking at the blonde skeptical ninja "Actually brat, your act must be perfect, you're the one who's going to make them less suspicious." Said blonde female arched both brows at this, and put her hands on her hips. "Yes, I said 'less' cause we know for sure that they're going to suspect you. As a housewife, you'll be wandering around a lot; plus, a pregnant woman is respected and trustworthy. Make friends and make them spit out what they know. I'm sure that there's at least someone who will notice that something is off, but as long as you act like you don't care about that, you'll most likely not blow your cover. Also, use your frogs to send me your report once a week; I need to inform Sunagakure and Iwagakure about everything"

Naruto looked at Tsunade still not getting the married part of the plan. "That's good and all Baa-chan, but why do we have to act like a married couple? Sure, I can understand that a pregnant woman will be less suspicious than just a normal woman. But why can't – for an example – I and Sakura be siblings, and then Sasuke is just a friend of ours, helping out, you know. For me and Sasuke to actually act as a _married couple _is a lot to ask for, Baa-chan," she said. She was not stupid. She knew that they can perfectly pass as friends or siblings. Her teammates were actually thinking the same thing.

The Godaime sighed for the nth time that day, wondering why the hell she was answering their questions. "Ishigakure is a very peaceful village and they want to keep it that way. A bunch of adolescents is not allowed in the village without their parents. Even if you introduce yourselves as brother and sisters et cetera, the absence of adults will make you look suspicious – you could pass for people in their twenties, without the need of adults, but it's a high risk to take. For them you're just troublemakers. That's the same if you tell them that you're orphans. Even if they allow you into the village, they'll keep an eye on you. They won't allow the hormones bags that you are to move freely around the village, and thereby you won't be able to investigate properly." She calmly added: "Listen, we're discussing a very serious matter, an A-ranked mission. You don't have the right to fail. It could cost you more than just your lives."

"Of course, we know that it's serious!" said the blonde kunoichi with a pouting lower lip. "We're taking it extremely serious! I just can't understand why it has to be m—"

"I don't think so brat!" Tsunade interrupted the blonde, getting really pissed off.

"Hokage-sama," Sasuke spoke calmly. "You mean that if we act like a married couple . . . awaiting their firstborn, we will look more mature even if we're still young."

Said Hokage smirked and nodded. "Exactly. That's one of the pros about this, among other things."

"That's the worst plan I ever heard, Baa-chan," Naruto shouted crossing her arms over her chest. "If I'm to play pregnant there will be even more trouble than if we were civilians searching for shelter, or something. Like: how the hell am I even going to appear pregnant?"

"Brat! You're really an idiot. Don't forget to act mature too," snapped a very angry Tsunade. She was really on the verge of killing a certain brat.

"I'm mature!" Naruto replied stomping her foot childishly and glaring at the old hag. "I – can – take – this – seriously," the blonde continued and emphasized every word to prove her point.

Tsunade smirked. "Could have fooled me," she said and smirked as the blonde glared at her.

"Hokage-sama, I'm sorry but I don't agree with you, Naruto will surely blow up our cover if she's got this motivation. She believes we're going to fail so thereby we'll most likely going to fail," Sakura said as she couldn't take it anymore, she couldn't let this chance pass, this mission was not only an A-ranked one, but also an opportunity for her to prove her skills. She knew that a lot of people were looking down on her because of Sasuke and Naruto being on her team. Those two were very powerful when they wanted to be, and she was seen as weak in comparison.

"Naruto . . . Naruto is just not wife and mother material," she added, pointing at Naruto almost disgustingly. "She doesn't know what it's like to be a woman, less alone a mother! She'd never be a good mother," she concluded confidently, without really thinking. As she realized her mistake, she blushed and looked down at the floor, inspecting the dirt down there.

For a brief moment, everyone in the room went silent, stunned to hear what Sakura had just said. Naruto froze from shock and hurt. Even though she may not act like it, she wanted to be a mother someday; so for her own teammate to say that hurt more than just a little. Sasuke's face was emotionless but you could see the surprise in his eyes.

Tsunade raised a blonde eyebrow wondering if she really heard what she thought she had heard. _Did she just insult her friend about being a horrible mother?_ She then looked at Naruto and what she saw broke her heart. The young kunoichi held hurt in her eyes. How could Sakura – her own friend and teammate – say something like that? So that's what she thinks about her? She wasn't feminine alright, but that doesn't mean that she'll be a bad mother.

Naruto lowered her eyes, then composed herself and looked up with determination. "Of course . . . I'm a woman – not a very feminine one, I know – but I _can_ be a mother. I always wanted to have children, lots and lots of children; to pamper and love. I don't think that anyone can say that they're going to be either the best or worse mother in the world, before giving it a try," she said making eye contact with Sakura. She was hurt but hid it quite well. She always wanted to have a family. She never was a fan of sappy romance crap or anything, but she always dreamed of building her own family. So no one, not even Sakura, would make her doubt herself.

The pink-haired kunoichi snickered at that. She knew that the blonde was right about that statement, but it did not help the fact that she didn't look like a proper mother. "You don't look feminine, so you don't inspire trustworthiness if you want to pass as a carrying wife and a good mother." Sakura didn't want to hurt her teammate, they were friends after all, even if said friend was really annoying.

At Naruto's crestfallen look she added: "I'm not talking about you personally, baka! I'm talking about the mission and the way you look. You've got to change your appearance before we go on this, and really, you've got to gain some weight and curves if you want to look more like a woman. You're as plain as a man!" Tsunade smiled, so nothing to worry about, that's a relief. Sakura had a point though. The orange jumpsuit that Naruto kept wearing from time to time made her look like an irresponsible tomboy, not really a lady-like outfit to wear for a respected wife and mother in a conservative-like village. Same thing about her body figure.

"That's why I think, Hokage-sama, that I should be the one to be Sasuke-kun's wife instead. I'm not trying to sound egoistic or something, but for Naruto to change that much and keep an act for months to come, is quite a lot to take all at once."

Sasuke mentally groaned at this. Yes, he knew that Sakura was better compared to a few years ago, but still. _Naruto is better, at least she wouldn't try to flirt with me during the mission_.

"That's enough Sakura! It's final; Naruto will be the pregnant wife. She doesn't know medical ninjutsu like you do, so thereby you've got to be the doctor," Tsunade said glaring at her apprentice "But I have to agree with Sakura. Naruto you must work on your appearance. I've never seen you in a dress, a tank-top or with your hair in a hairstyle. Try and get some new clothes and ask for help when it comes to the hair."

"Fine then, I can do this. There's nothing Uzumaki Naruto can't do. I'll show you Baa-chan, I can be very convincing, even if it's with a cold bastard like Sasuke," Naruto shouted at the blonde woman before her. She was going to pull this off real nicely. She'd show them that she could be a good mother.

She swallowed. The word 'mother' was foreign to her, but somehow she was starting to love it. Maybe it could be another goal in her life? To have children, and a family . . .

"Good! I need to tell you one more thing before you go." They frowned, waiting for Tsunade to explain the rest of the mission. "I don't know if they're going to check Naruto or not. If another doctor would check you, he'll learn that you're not pregnant, so I've been thinking a lot about how you could appear pregnant."

"Yeah, that makes sense, why are you so obsessed with the pregnant part anyway?" Naruto asked trying desperately to ease her worry. Well, being Sasuke's wife is hard enough, why did she need to be pregnant too? Would she get that big as well?

"In Ishigakure, family is very important. I want you to merge with them. It'll make your infiltration and investigation easier," the Godaime answered coolly. "As I was saying, if someone other than Sakura would check you, they'll definitively see that you're not pregnant, so thereby I've made these pills for you." She pulled a bottle from her desk drawer. "These pills will create the symptoms of a pregnant woman with the help of hormones, and bacteria that will stay in your stomach. You're supposed to be in your 7th week or so, making you nearly two months pregnant. Take one pill every second day before going to bed."

"No need to worry Baa-chan, how hard can it be?" the blonde asked and shrugged as she was about to walk over and grab the bottle filled with at least forty pills.

"I'm not finished, brat! But not during your period, if you do, three things may happen: one, they'll make you bleed even more and longer than normally, resulting in small blood loss. Two, it may cause menstrual cycle disturbances and stop your period completely for the upcoming months. And in worst case – which is the third thing – it will damage your cervix. The bacteria in the pills will for some reason go to the cervix during your period, instead of your stomach. Don't forget it. If you take the pills during that time it may lead to you getting sterile, you hear me? And you said you wanted children, so be careful."

Naruto felt like dying. It wasn't over the fact that so much could happen to her if she messed up during her period, but the fact that Sasuke was actually smirking behind her! She blushed cutely.

_Oh Kami, why did she say it in front of Sasuke? _she thought with her face become a deeper shade of red.

It was not because Naruto was a tomboy that she didn't feel embarrassed when talking about her period in front of a guy – or any girl stuff for that matter – it was only because it was _Sasuke_. The kind of relationship they had would make this into an awkward situation. Plus, she wanted to make her male teammate forget that she was indeed a girl. A guy will always hold up while sparring with a girl, at least unconsciously – even a cold bastard like Sasuke – so if the male thought of _her _as male as well, he wouldn't hold back during their fights.

"Sakura, there's a bottle of pills for every trimester to simulate every stage of the pregnancy. I trust you to check on Naruto's condition and make sure that she's taking her pills correctly. And also; the hormones I've used in these pills are the hormones that will be released in the body when a female gets pregnant, so Naruto will have mood swings along with other symptoms concerning pregnancies. The bacteria will make her eat more and produce more stomach acid so that she'll get nauseous et cetera."

The pink-haired kunoichi nodded. "Yes, Hokage-sama," she said and then Tsunade handed her a folder. "Here are more details about the mission. You're the leader for this mission Sakura. Kakashi is currently helping Kurenai with her baby." They all nodded showing their agreement.

"You have today and tomorrow to prepare yourself. The term of this mission is unknown. You'll be back when you finish your job. You're dismissed." _Please __be careful._


	3. Preparation

Disclaimer: Same old, I don't own Naruto damn it, Masashi Kishimoto does

"They're really big" Masashi said with a raised eyebrow

"Really?" I said looking at 'them' curiously, "I thought that their size was perfect, enough to be attractive but not too much" I added squeezing 'them' lightly wondering what was bothering Masashi that much. He didn't reply, he just eyed 'them' like they were going to attack him.

"So~" I said coming closer to him, the cushion of the couch sinking a bit more as I put my hands to steady myself, and leaned closer to him, "where were we?" He backed away glaring at me, and got up brushing the imaginary dirt from his pants

"Stop it Itoo, you won't make me change my mind" he looked back at me, "Naruto is mine, I will never abandon him, and that's final"

"Oh common, I'm doing all of this to help you understand my intention but you thick-head don't want to understand anything!" I said pouting, "please at least have a taste, they're yummy"

"You're disgusting" he spat glaring at me.

"Don't you dare insulting my rice balls, I'm not a chef but I followed the recipe like it was made by one"

"You keep on calling them rice balls, pff. I have to go" he concluded, then added as an afterthought "Don't call me again!"

"Tkk, next time, I'll make him change his mind" I thought out loud –fire of will shining in my eyes-

Chapter two here we go, please enjoy!

**Chapter two: Preparations**  
_Written by Itooshii Koneko  
Betad by MrsHellman_

After Team Seven's meeting with the Godaime, Naruto offered her teammates to meet at her apartment in order to set up a plan for this mission. She was the only one living alone, both Sakura and Sasuke living with their parents. Even if her apartment was small, it was comfy, cozy and very calm. It was clearly visible that she'd had years to make her apartment fit her. They stayed up very late examining Team Eight's report – which was very helpful, it made their work easier but the mission was still hard and dangerous – and discussing some other things, such as how they should act and what they should wear et cetera.

After writing down her last note about their plan, Sakura checked her watch: _2am. Wow. Time sure flies fast when you're busy._ She yawned then turned to her teammates. "I think that it's enough for today, it's really late and we're tired. We'll finish the plan by tomorrow. We've already got a lot of it covered."

"Finally it's over, I'm so sleepy," the blonde kunoichi said and plopped down onto the carpeted floor in her small living room. "You can stay the night if you want. Here is the couch and my bed can fit two if you sleep close to one another," she said pointing at the couch in the middle of the living room. "Oh, and I have an extra futon too," she added covering her mouth to prevent a yawn.

"Hn, I'm leaving," Sasuke replied to Naruto's offer. It wasn't harsh really; you can actually translate it, from the bastard language to the normal language, this way: 'No thank you. See you tomorrow at the usual spot'.

"No thanks, I'll be leaving too. See you tomorrow Naruto!" Sakura too declined, waving goodbye to her friend and trying to catch up with Sasuke.

Naruto shrugged, took a quick shower and then went to bed. As she lied down in her small bed, she thought about Tsunade's mission for them. _I'm sure that the old hag wanted to get her revenge because I hid her sake the other day. I don't want to act like a pregnant housewife . . ._ she thought, but then you thought about being an actual mother again. She studied the ceiling above her and then looked around her apartment.

She blinked and then narrowed her eyes as she studied every surface in her bedroom that was connected to the living room. She couldn't help but imagine small children running around and— she shook her head before thinking too much about it. It may be a dream; most likely her hardest dream to reach. After all; who'd want to actually have children with the Kyūbi's host? It would be one hell of a risk, wouldn't it? She clenched her fists and buried her face deep in her pillow. Why did Sakura have to say anything about her being a bad mother?

Without any further thought, she dozed off to sleep despite her worried thoughts.

xxx

The next day, Team Seven finished their plan pretty quickly and it was now lunch time. They went to Ichiraku ramen shop, where they were supposed to meet with Kiba and Hinata, hopping to get some additional tips about the mission. They still didn't know how Team Eight had blown up their cover.

"Hi guys, how are you doing?" asked a very excited Naruto. She took place on a random stool at the ramen shop, and lost no time in ordering two bowls of miso ramen.

"Hi, you're early," Kiba said looking at his watch and then at the three teammates of Team Seven.

"Hi Naruto-chan, w-we're fine thank you," Hinata replied to Naruto's question. "Hello Haruno-san, Uchiha-kun," she added and nodded, after noticing the two other members of Team Seven taking their seats too. They ate, talking about random stuff, and when they finished they settled down by a table in a discrete corner of the ramen shop to have some privacy.

"How did you blow up your cover in Ishi?" was Sasuke's blunt question to Kiba and Hinata. He was known to be a very frank guy, always getting straight to the point without any small talk beforehand. It's a good quality in some situations, but sometimes it's a tad too much. Of course, the raven himself was satisfied with his way of handling the situation. He hated talking and so he always tried to limit his speech as much as he could.

"How rude, Teme!" Naruto hissed glaring at the cold Uchiha, who merely looked over at the blonde and arched a brow. "Baa-chan sent us to continue your mission. She thought that the best plan ever is to send us as a married couple, stupid old woman! And I have got to be pregnant!" the blonde then said to Team Eight's present members. Kiba blinked a couple of times and then began laughing his ass off, like he had just heard the funniest joke ever.

After regaining his composer, Kiba asked snickering: "S-So she chose you instead of Sakura?" But it wasn't really a question, more like a statement.

"Shut up dog-breath! It's not like we were given options. Everything was already decided," Naruto replied, grinding her teeth due to annoyance. The brunette was having the time of his life.

"Do you mean that at the beginning, I was supposed to be Sasuke-kun's wife?" Sakura asked hurriedly, surprise and annoyance being reflected in her voice.

"W-we just gave Hokage-sama some suggestions, we didn't choose the team w-who was going to do the mission," Hinata replied reasonably. Sakura seemed a bit relieved to hear that. She really wanted to be Sasuke's wife even if it was an act. The fact that Naruto was the one to be the wife was unnerving, and she was hoping that she wouldn't mess up this time.

"Yeah, we learned yesterday that you're the team going to continue our mission. But we didn't know the details," Kiba clarified. "But we concluded that if you're going to use the married couple cover, it would be Sasuke and Sakura doing it, not Sasuke and _Naruto_."

"Baa-chan didn't want to change her mind!" Naruto said pouting and crossing her arms over her chest. She was a bit pissed that everyone saw Sakura as the better person to be a wife. What was wrong with her? There are thousands of tomboy women out there and loads of them are mothers!

"So how did you blow up your cover anyway? We don't want to attract unnecessary attention, especially if Naruto is the one going to play the wife role," Sakura asked with bitterness.

"Hey stop that Sakura-chan! You're mean! I'm perfectly able to do my job correctly," Naruto replied pouting again. "I can be a good wife, and I can be a good mother."

"I'm sure that Naruto-chan will do a great job, Sakura-chan," Hinata reassured the pink-haired kunoichi.

"We have more important matter to discuss than Dobe's ability to act. So give us more details about your previous mission will you," Sasuke said, frustrated by the useless discussion the females were having. He was getting impatient, and everyone knew that he was never the patient type of guy.

"Man, calm down! What do you want to know that wasn't specified in our report anyway?" Kiba asked, trying to calm the Uchiha's temper, but of course, this made the young Uchiha even more frustrated. He took a deep breath and asked again in a low and cold voice "How – did you – blow up – your cover – in Ishi?" he asked and emphasized every word.

Sensing the tension in the air, Sakura spoke softly to Hinata; "What made the villagers in Ishi suspicious?"

Hinata replied blushing "W-we introduced ourselves as a couple, and . . ." She was too embarrassed to finish her explanation, so Kiba came to her rescue.

"We were foreigners who asked too much questions for their liking. They were keeping an eye on us from our arrival," Kiba looked at Sasuke and added blushing cutely. "We were too young and . . . our act wasn't convincing enough I guess. You know, like, you're more touchy-feely as a couple and you kiss and stuff . . ."

"Don't tell me that we have to be all lovey-dovey to be convincing?" Naruto asked scandalized her eyes wide open. She did not want to kiss the bastard. The time in the academy was once too much, and also, she would only kiss the man she loved, no one else.

"Not necessarily, but you have to be really comfortable in each other's presence. Just show them that you're familiar with each other and know each other. Also, if you're supposed to be pregnant you've got to show that you know each other's bodies as well," Kiba replied calmly, but with a small smirk on his lips. Before Naruto could start screaming profanities at the man, Hinata interrupted them.

"I-I was the one at fault," she added, looking down at the surface of the hard wooden table. "It was hard for me to feel at ease around Kiba-kun," she confessed, not daring to look at her teammate who felt a sting of hurt.

"How is that? You like him after all, it should have been easy to stick around Kiba every time," Naruto pointed out bluntly, a finger put below her bottom lip in a thinking fashion. "Well, he stinks like a wet dog, but that's beside the point." She smirked as Kiba narrowed his eyes at her. Revenge.

After this tactless intervention – ignoring Naruto's insult – both Kiba and Hinata turned a deep shade of red. The young Hyūga heiress looked at Naruto with wide eyes feeling exposed. While the dog lover was looking at Hinata unable to say anything.

"Ow! Why did you do that Sakura-chan?" the blonde shouted rubbing her abused head after receiving a hard punch from Sakura who was fuming, and looking at her with a vein ticking by her forehead. "You know, you're not supposed to hit a pregnant woman."

"One, because you're stupid. Two, you're not pregnant you dolt. And three: shut up baka! You're so stupid Naruto!" Sakura added glaring at her female teammate. _She's completely hopeless . . ._

"Dobe," Sasuke said smirking. _What a dumb blonde she can be, _he thought and smiled at said blonde's antics.

"What the fuck! I didn't do anything bad! I mean, come on! Kiba practically said that we're supposed to have sex with each other!" Naruto pouted looking away and mumbling under her breath about 'stuck-up Teme' and 'freaking she-hulk'. Sasuke was frowning and having a mental debate with himself about sex with the blonde.

Kiba was still in a state of shock. After four years of teamwork with the young Hyūga heiress, he grew more and more attracted to her, but he never found the guts to ask her out. He never thought that his crush could like him too.

_Does she really like me?_ he kept asking himself, too scared to ask the girl directly. So he stayed with looking at her with wide, lustrous eyes, holding his breath.

"Hinata, are you alright?" Naruto asked concerned about Hinata's wellbeing. She received a vigorous nod as a reply "Hinata, don't tell me that you didn't tell him about how you feel?" Naruto asked frowning, with a much softer voice and genuine concern in her voice.

"Naruto! Shut up!" Sakura warned and hit her in the stomach, earning a groan from Naruto who bent over a little to catch her breath, still grinning nonetheless.

All of a sudden they heard a loud 'thump'. They all looked down and found Kiba on the ground. He had fainted unable to process that new piece of information.

"Look at what you did Naruto?" Sakura reprimanded. "We didn't manage to talk about the mission because of you!"

"What!" Naruto shouted back at her. "I didn't know that they didn't talk about their feelings yet," she said with narrowed eyes and looked at Hinata who'd crouched down to help Kiba stand up.

"Is it true?" Kiba asked hopefully, trying to find in Hinata's eyes the answer he was looking for.

"Well . . . I . . . Yes! I like you Kiba-kun," Hinata replied looking down, it wasn't really the confession that she had imagined. In her dreams, Kiba was the one confessing to her, and in a very romantic way of course, this was the complete opposite. What was she supposed to do?

Team Seven stared at the two blushing teenagers and decided that it was best to leave the two of them alone, so that they could have a talk. They left the restaurant leaving the two love birds alone. Everyone in Konoha knew that the two ninjas liked each other, but were too scared to confess their feelings. It was really stupid, their feelings were literally written all over their face whenever they were around each other. It was really amazing how they were oblivious to the signals they kept sending to each other. It looked like they just needed a little push, all thanks to Naruto, who was quite pleased with her doings. Life is too short especially for ninjas; they have no time to waste.

"They weren't really helpful. Why did you bring up their love life Naruto? Because of you . . ." Sakura didn't finish her lecture and was interrupted by Naruto's calm reply.

"Oh please Sakura-chan! They didn't know more than what we do about the mission. We just have to act familiar and comfortable around each other, as they said, and if you ask me; I think that sounds logical. So we call a truce Teme, for the sake of the mission okay?" Naruto said grinning like a cheshire cat at the raven who was looking ahead.

"Hn," Sasuke nodded agreeing with Naruto, but not saying it out loud.

"I guess that means a 'yes', alright then," Naruto said and stretched, with her hands above her head, her shirt riding up her stomach.

"Naruto, watch your shirt," the pinkette warned as she noticed this. "We should go pack and rest for the day. Tomorrow we'll meet at the gates at 6am," Sakura continued bossily and turned to leave. Sasuke didn't waste time to go back home either. He was in a bad mood. He really thought that Kiba would be able to give him more helpful advice. _Hn, I just have to stick with what the Dobe said, 'familiar' and 'comfortable'_.

"Oh I almost forgot," Sakura added looking back at Naruto then asked; "Naruto, do you have less baggy and more feminine clothes?"

"I only have my ninja gears and . . . let me think . . . _one_ casual outfit Shizune bought me . . . once," Naruto replied thoughtfully unable to remember when and why Shizune bought those clothes. She remembered vaguely Tsunade talking about gross orange jumpsuit from her younger years. Oh yeah; _she _was the one who asked Shizune to buy decent clothes for Naruto.

Last year, Konoha had received an important donation from a very satisfied customer. The Village Hidden in the Leaves had organized a festival to thank him for his generous contribution. Naruto was one of the ninjas who had been assigned to attend some stands to let the villagers have fun during the festival instead of working. She and Sakura had been selling cotton-candies; it was very relaxing and refreshing.

Anyway, the Godaime thought that Naruto had needed to wear something more appropriate, which was really stupid in Naruto's opinion. What's the problem with her clothes? Heck! It was appropriate too. Well, at least Shizune didn't buy anything _too_ girly or hideous. It was a simple black halter dress that fell just below the knee, and had thin shoulder straps. Since the blonde kunoichi hadn't felt comfortable with that light dress, Shizune had bought her a dark orange turtleneck top to cover her cleavage. That was definitively a feminine outfit which showed a beautiful young lady instead of an undisciplined tomboy.

Needless to say, that everyone had been stunned, Naruto had been gorgeous in comparison to what she'd usually look like. Some guys had taken analyzing looks at her, but of course, she'd been oblivious to the attention she got from the male population. Speaking of guys, Sasuke had also been stunned, but he did nothing more than slightly insulting his blonde teammate. He'd kept telling her that she looked ridiculous, like a boy wearing a dress. Of course, it was a lie but he would never admit that Naruto looked okay in that dress.

As for Sakura, she had not liked being left behind. She'd been totally shadowed by that tomboy of a teammate. Everyone had been curious to see Naruto with an actual dress on. The good point was that they had sold every single cotton-candy they'd made. So, you can guess, that Sakura did most certainly remember perfectly what outfit Naruto was talking about.

"Are you referring to the dress that you were wearing during last year's festival?" Sakura asked and received an affirmative nod from her teammate.

"Okay, I'll come with you to see if it still fits you," the pinkette said. This reminded her that, saying Naruto wasn't feminine enough was definitively not true, but everyone seemed to forget that the blonde kunoichi was a girl, and they weren't the ones to blame.

Naruto would always wear the standard Chūnin pants and vest, but use different shirts underneath said vest. She'd use long sleeved tight shirts, three-quarter sleeved shirts and t-shirts, but never tops for some reason. Perhaps it was because of the fact that she always let her Chūnin vest open, and didn't want to show off any cleavage. The blonde was for some reason very critical about that. To be honest, Sakura had never seen her upper arms, legs or chest area bare, even when they took baths at the onsen. Naruto would use the longest towels to wrap around her body and then keep it high up against her chest, never showing off anything. It made the pinkette wonder if the blonde was self-conscious about her body.

Once at Naruto's apartment, Sakura went to check the girl's wardrobe. The dress was indeed the only feminine clothing that Naruto possessed. She told her to try it on, and Naruto went to the bathroom to change. Apparently – from what the blonde told Sakura – the dress ended above Naruto's knees, and the top felt too tight at the chest. She needed new clothes.

"We have to buy new clothes for you, Naruto," Sakura announced nodding her head as Naruto walked out from the bathroom with all her ninja gears on except for the Chūnin vest.

Naruto pouted and the sighed. "Okay! But please, I don't want clothes too tight, too short or too girly!"

Sakura couldn't help but giggle at this. "You should be delighted to go shopping, you know. Most women love shopping."

"Hmph! I'm perfectly fine with the style I've got already. I'm just agreeing for the sake of the mission," Naruto replied while the pink-haired kunoichi dragged her out of her apartment and down the street.

xxx

They headed to three different stores, one for shoes and the other two were for clothes and accessories. Sakura was in heaven while Naruto was living a nightmare. They were short of money, but Sakura insisted on trying most of the clothes she liked. She said that it was the only way to make the best choice. Of course, Naruto tried to sneak out the store, but under Sakura's threats she chickened out.

_What? You would do that if she threatened to dye your hair orange in your sleep! I like orange but not as a hair color!_ In the end, they only bought a few clothes: a light blue summer dress, a more formal yellow shirt, a white blouse and dark green capri pants.

"We did a great job together," Sakura announced cheerfully as they walked out from the last store, a very distressed Naruto following her. The blonde glared at her giggling teammate. "Oh! Come on Naruto, it was fun. We never went shopping before. We definitively must do it again."

It made Naruto very happy to hear Sakura looking forwards to another time to hang out together. She always wanted to be close to her friends, and for some reason, Sakura and her had never really bonded. The pinkette seemed to hate her, but she had never done anything wrong to her, at least she thought so. She respected her pink-haired teammate a lot, and hated it when Sasuke rejected her so harshly. So Naruto always invited her to have lunch together, to cheer her up, but Sakura never agreed. It hurt her a bit, but she never gave up and here was her reward for her patience, Sakura was the one asking to spend some time together.

"Maybe! But I don't want to try clothes when I'm sure that I won't buy them. It's a waste of time and energy," Naruto replied, pouting, not really meaning to complain.

"It was fun. I know you think the same. So shut up," Sakura replied smirking. "Anyway, I have to go; my mission for today is finished. Go home and don't forget to take your pills, it'll take two days for them to work for the first time. See you tomorrow!" And with that, she left her blonde teammate in the middle of the street carrying her bags, looking like a lost puppy.

Great. She had completely forgotten about the pills. She was tired and needed to rest, it was a first experience in the shopping land as a girl, and she felt exhausted. She walked a little then sat down on a bench that was located near one of the parks. In front of her was a small playground filled with children playing and laughing.

When she was younger, she used to hide behind a tree, and look at other children her age playing and having fun, their parents not too far behind, watching over them tenderly, ready to sooth their child's injuries. It had made her smile, but also glare because of jealousy. She always envied them, and now she was going to act like she was a wife – soon-to-be-mother. They couldn't have chosen a worse candidate.

She noticed a group of pregnant women sitting together by another bench where there was a table as well; they were chatting lively and giggling every now and then. Naruto wondered what they were talking about. They looked so happy, especially when they were caressing their enormous belly, a special smile coming across their faces.

_Is everyone really thinking that I won't be a good mother? _She frowned and lowered her eyes, absentmindedly focusing on a dirty spot on the ground._ Do you really need to have a mother to know how to be a good mother yourself in the future?_ she thought, harboring a sad expression on her face. The blonde kunoichi looked up, trying to compose herself, her frown deepened when she noticed one of the soon-to-be-mother kissing who seemed to be her husband.

She froze when she noticed this, and felt a huge pang of jealousy in her chest. She wanted to be loved as well; to have a father of her children, someone to be with during her worst time and someone to just hold and love, with all her heart. Was it too much to ask for, her being the Kyūbi Bijū and all? She touched her stomach briefly and bit her lower lip as she felt the familiar flat stomach under her fingers.

She looked up again, and the husband was now hugging her wife from behind, caressing her stomach as well. It made her think of Sasuke, and that he was supposed to be the father of her pretend child. She made a face.

_Ew! Am I supposed to act like that with Sasuke-teme?_ she wondered incredulously. _No way in hell is that ever going to happen. He doesn't even want to touch me if it's not for sparring!_

It was getting late, the sun was setting and the sky was turning a beautiful shade of orange, Naruto's favorite color. She watched the children complain to their parents; some wanted to stay a bit longer and keep playing, others were happy to see their father or older sibling coming to pick them up. She sighed and got up to head home, almost forgetting her stuff, thankfully realizing it in the last second.

Not once had she noticed that there had been a person focusing only on her, not caring about the people around; watching her facial expressions as she watched certain events.

Once at home, she packed her luggage, hiding her kunai and shuriken in a secret compartment. She was too tired to eat, but went to prepare her dinner anyway – as Sakura has said before, she was too skinny, and also; their mission was going to start the following day, and they were going to travel for a whole day to reach Ishi, she needed to be in a good shape. After the usual dinner and a shower, she put on her night clothes wondering mindlessly if she would have to share the same bed with Sasuke, and in that case what would she wear to sleep? Not her oversized washed-out t-shirt anyway. Maybe she should get one of those nightgowns Sakura had showed her as they went lingerie shopping. It made her shudder as she thought about it; it had been filled with frills and transparent fabric, not covering anything up. Damn, even her t-shirt was better than that, but she should get some night pants as well . . .

She sat down on her bed, looking at the innocent white pill that Tsunade had given her. _I wonder how these pills will make me look like a pregnant woman. I hope I'm not going to look like a big cow!_ She was a ninja, and it was her duty to execute the Hokage's order, even if she didn't trust her. Shrugging, she swallowed the mysterious pill along with some water from a bottle near her bed. She set her alarm clock at 5am and drifted off to sleep instantly.


	4. Destination Stone

Disclaimer: Naruto is mine, yes yes mine, and I'm the queen of England, I travel on a flying cow, and I know how to breathe under water –nod vigorously- if you believed this, I think that you seriously need to stop smoking whatever substance you use –sweat drops-

I own nothing, Naruto and co are Masashi Kishimoto's property, and he didn't want to give them to me –pouts-

Warning: In this story the Wave arc never happened, I'm going to introduce its characters in the upcoming chapters, but don't be confused they have nothing to do with that arc.

Chapter three for you guys, please enjoy!

**Chapter three: Destination Stone**  
_Written by Itooshii Koneko  
Betad by MrsHellman_

At 6am the members of Team Seven were supposed to meet at the main gates as planned the previous day, everyone had to wear casual clothes in case they met ninjas or Ishi travelers during their trip to the village.

Sasuke was the first one to arrive at the gates – no surprise there. He was wearing black jeans and a dark blue tank top, his dark clothing was contrasting amazingly well with his pale skin, at the same time as it made him blend in well with the villagers. The only thing that made him act like a ninja was the fact that he walked like one – controlled, easy movements. He leaned on the wall and crossed his arms accentuating the features of his strong biceps. His jeans lightly tight at his thighs gave an absolutely watering view. No one would deny it, no man and definitively no woman, Sasuke was gorgeous.

Sakura was the second one to reach the main gates, and was delighted to see Sasuke already there, she knew that Naruto would be late, it wasn't very like her, but it didn't surprise her either. She checked her appearance and approached her teammate. She was wearing a white summer dress that reached her knees; it had a tight waistline to show her slim waist and was loose around her chest to make the illusion of a developed bosom. The skirt was light and swayed graciously with the cool breeze of the morning. All in all, Sakura was cute this very morning. She wanted to look good for Sasuke, really, her objective was to make Sasuke look at her from another light after this mission. She wanted to prove to him that she could be a good girlfriend, and not as annoying as she'd appeared as in younger years.

"Good morning Sasuke-kun!" she greeted him, smiling and blushing slightly, as she took in his appearance.

"Hn." Of course, he had sensed her approaching, and saw how that annoying girl was looking at him, it was obvious that she was hoping to get a reaction out of him, and he was not going to grace her with one. That girl was desperate; she could mistake anything as an acknowledgement of any form of advance coming from her. He sighed mentally, why didn't she understand that he was not interested in her? He was very much aware of the fact that she wasn't crushing on him, but rather that she truly _did _fancy him. It only made matters worse for the young Uchiha.

Sakura pouted as she noticed that Sasuke had barely as much as looked at her. _Well, that wasn't what I was expecting from him,_ she thought. She tried to start a conversation with him but to no avail, so she settled down on her little green backpack waiting for her last teammate. Naruto was _really _late by now – over twenty minutes – and it was beginning to make her two teammates a bit worried.

After twenty-five minutes wait, Naruto came running towards them her face flushed and completely out of breath. She stopped by Sakura's side and bent down, her hands on her knees trying to catch her breath. She wasn't wearing a goofy expression as she usually did, she looked rather confused actually.

"Baka! Why are you so late? We should have been gone twenty minutes ago, you idiot!" Sakura yelled smacking her fist on Naruto's thick skill.

"O-ow! S-Sakura-chan please stop!" Naruto shouted panting and rubbing her abused head. "I'm sorry. I couldn't wake up, I-I'm really tired, I don't understand why," she explained as her eyes wandered left and right, not daring to look up at the angered woman. Sakura noticed that the blonde was a bit anxious as to why she was tired. That's when she remembered the pills. They were taking effect earlier than expected.

"Oh that must be the pills. Sorry, I should have thought about that, you all right? Do you feel any pain?" Sakura asked worriedly as she touched Naruto's head caringly.

"No, I'm just tired," Naruto reassured her teammate and backed away, not used to the caring Sakura.

"Let's go," Sasuke replied looking at Naruto. His face was emotionless but Naruto's appearance surprised him, too used to a boyish Naruto, this girly Naruto was something different. He looked away. He didn't want to think about the Dobe's look, he didn't care about that dumb girl, less alone her appearance.

Naruto was indeed looking very different. She was wearing a white blouse with two braid-like horizontal patterns under her chest accentuating her small breasts in the slightest. Since she hated skirts and dresses; she chose to wear the orange capri pants. It was simple and feminine but not too much, and it was orange. She didn't know if she looked girly enough, and like a . . . pregnant wife, so she approached Sakura and called for her with a low voice.

"Sakura-chan," she said and looked up at Sasuke to see if he was aware of their small talk.

Her teammate looked at her and asked: "What is it Naruto?"

"D-do I look . . . Are the clothes I chose for today okay?" _What the hell! Why am I feeling self-conscious so suddenly? _

Sakura couldn't help but giggle, Naruto was so funny when embarrassed. "Of course! We chose your clothes together, did you forget? Besides, I thought you didn't care about your look, or do you?" she asked teasingly and took a look at Naruto's hair that was in a french braid. "Oh, I didn't know you knew how to braid," she exclaimed with an arched brow. "It looks good on you."

Naruto pouted crossing her arms over her chest, and looked away, embarrassed. "Of course I can braid, but about my question, I . . . I . . . Argh! Forget it," she just didn't want to blow up their cover. She remembered yesterday that all the pregnant women were wearing oversized dresses. _That must be because of their huge belly then,_ she guessed, but she didn't remember what the others were wearing; she was too focused on the pregnant women.

"You realized that you may scare someone looking like that?" Sasuke said smirking like the cocky bastard he was. He was the one leading the way, but wasn't far enough to miss the little chitchat between the two girls behind him. It made him smile in the slightest as he heard that Naruto – the more boyish girl in the whole village – cared about her looks.

The scandalized blonde kunoichi launched herself on Sasuke's back, she wanted to beat the shit out of that bastard; he always kept on insulting her. Said raven had been prepared for the attack but nearly lost his balance since he hadn't been prepared on the blonde actually jumping onto his back. He grabbed her legs to keep himself on his feet. "You teme!" Sakura came to the rescue and held Naruto, but it didn't stop the angry girl from shouting.

"Shut up you bastard! I wasn't asking for your opinion!"

"Calm down Naruto! Sasuke-kun didn't do anything wrong!" but Naruto kept on struggling trying to get free from Sakura's tight grasp.

"What! He insulted me again!" Naruto looked at Sakura. _How can that girl take his side? She is so blind! That guy is a complete asshole, she deserves so much better._

"Fine! But don't talk to me again you prick!" Naruto said glaring at the smirking Uchiha, who was looking down at her smugly. Oh how much she wanted to wipe that smirk from his ugly face. His features were the hottest topic among females in the village, and after a while it had become very tedious to Naruto, so she really didn't care anymore. She just couldn't appreciate his looks the way the other women did.

She puffed her cheek and ran forwards to lead the way. Needless to say, that she was now in a very, _very,_ bad mood, and wanted to express her anger by running as fast as she could.

xxx

After running up in the trees for five hours nonstop, Sakura tried to calm her teammate's temper. "Naruto, slow down!"

No reply.

"You woke up tired this morning. Don't exhaust yourself more than you already are, we're still very far from Ishi," she insisted and she noticed that Sasuke was only looking at the blonde ahead of them instead of looking at where he placed his feet.

"I'm f-fine Sakura-chan, don't w-worry," Naruto replied looking back at her teammate and smiling sheepishly; her stuttering giving her away.

She was a bit tired but didn't want to stop, she knew that if she did, she would feel the soreness of her muscles tenfold, and wouldn't be able to keep up with her teammates. The pills were beginning to kick in as well. She was feeling a bit more tired than usual – as if she was running out of chakra really fast, and there was a pelvic soreness growing up since half an hour ago and it didn't look like it was going to dissipate any time soon.

Sasuke and Sakura were closely following her and saw how slow she was becoming; she was also making faces from time to time. That girl was too stubborn for her own good, and the young Uchiha was beginning to think that maybe Sakura would have been more suitable to play the pregnant housewife instead of Naruto. At least, Sakura knew her limits.

"We should take a break. It's been six hours since we left Konoha," Sasuke said slowing down.

"Sasuke-kun is right. We need to eat and rest a bit," Sakura agreed looking at Naruto who was sweating furiously.

"A-all right," The blonde kunoichi docilely did as told and tried to catch her breath, she was completely exhausted. _I shouldn't have run so fast after all. But I can usually take more than this. What's wrong with my body?_

She plopped down on the dirty ground leaning on a tree. She closed her eyes, panting heavily and trying to relax, the cool breeze caressing her heated skin felt good, and helped her relax. Slowly, the soreness of her muscles began to intensify. _What the fuck are those pills? I feel like shit!_ she thought angrily massaging her ankles unconsciously. _How am I going to fight if we're attacked? The old hag didn't think about that one, did she_?

She felt a presence before her and opened her eyes slowly, coming face to face with a crouching Sasuke.

"Drink," Sasuke said, offering her some water. "Sakura is inspecting the place."

_Huh!_ She looked around blinking. She had not heard either Sakura leaving or Sasuke approaching her. Luckily, they weren't attacked or else she wouldn't be very helpful.

"Thanks," she replied quietly taking the offered cup and drinking its content in one go. She didn't feel thirsty until Sasuke gave her that cup of water, and now she wanted to drink every drop of water they had.

It seemed that her raven-haired teammate caught her thoughts, and filled her cup a second time. He was getting worried about his dumb teammate; she looked to be in a lot of pain. He was beginning to question Tsunade's medical skills. _What the hell are those pills?_

"How are you feeling?" he finally asked with his usual poker-face.

"Fine. Are you worried, Teme?" Naruto asked teasingly with a half splitting grin on her still flushed face. Her tired features didn't make it look less taunting though.

"Shut up. If you need to rest, say it, or else you'll slow us down," Sasuke snapped at her, not liking being made fun of.

"This place is clear. We can stop here for awhile and rest." Sakura had arrived and looked suspiciously at her two teammates. "How are you feeling Naruto?" she asked approaching her friend.

"I'm perfectly fine Sakura-chan," Naruto replied feeling suddenly pissed off. _I'm fine! I'm not weak, damn it!_

Sakura didn't believe her, and crouch down by her side to check on her. She gathered her chakra on her right hand, it began to glow green and hover it on Naruto's ankles to heal her soreness. "Turn around," she ordered the blue-eyed kunoichi and began healing the soreness on her lower back and stomach as well. She made sure that the muscles relaxed so that her pelvic wasn't as sore anymore, she knew from meeting other pregnant women that it could be a real pain with the pelvic aching.

"Thank you Sakura-chan! You're a lifesaver," Naruto felt so much better, all thanks to Sakura.

"How did you know about my back?" she asked, after all she didn't say anything about it.

"It's my job to know this kind of things," the medic-nin replied, smiling at her confused teammate. It could not be easy to have these symptoms during a mission such as this. They would have to travel a lot before they were even in Ishi. It was as long as the way to Suna and a little more. "I didn't imagine that those pills could be this powerful. Now I understand why Tsunade-sama said that you're the one who's going to make them less suspicious."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Naruto asked, she was confused, what was the relationship between their cover and feeling like shit?

"The pills are perfectly simulating the symptoms of a pregnant woman, that's why you're so tired and have some pelvic pains," Sakura explained with a small smile. _This is definitively going to make the villagers less suspicious. Well done Tsunade-sama!_ Now, she was thinking that she was lucky for not having to suffer like this during their mission.

"And when is it going to stop?" the poor kunoichi asked anxiously as she slightly rubbed her hips, they were still aching a little.

"Well, I'll explain to you what a pregnant woman feels at her first semester. But, let's eat first."And as if understanding them perfectly well, Naruto's stomach growled. She got up, blushing cutely, and rubbed the back of her head. "Hehe, okay!"

"I found some edible fruits." The raven ninja informed his teammates putting down said fruits. Naruto looked up at him with a startled expression; she hadn't even noticed that the raven left them.

"Woah! The green apples look so yummy!" the blonde squealed attacking the apples before anyone else could grab them.

Her behavior was getting weirder, and her teammates were starting to fear for the girl's intellectual capabilities, not like she had any brain cells to lose if you ask Sasuke, but it's creepy to see Naruto squeal because of green apples.

"Is she okay?" Sasuke quietly asked the medic-nin keeping his voice low so that Naruto couldn't hear him.

"Yes she is actually," Sakura replied cautiously eyeing Naruto's movements, and slightly tilting her head to figure out how Naruto had managed to eat three apples at the same time. That girl was really skilled when it came to eating.

"You sure?" Sasuke asked her slowly, still worried about their dumb teammate. It's understandable, Uzumaki always meant trouble, and the young Uchiha didn't want to take care of any additional trouble. _I can't believe that I'm going to be stuck with her for an unknown amount of time that could eventually be agonizingly long. And act like her carrying and loving husband!_

"Yeah, she's just craving for apples," Sakura replied. "It's common for pregnant women during the first semester of the pregnancy," she couldn't believe that she was talking to her very male teammate, about pregnancy, and she wasn't even the pregnant one.

"_So good!_ It was _delicious!"_ Naruto moaned rubbing her filled tummy. "Stewed apples taste better though," she added after a second thought.

"You can lie down if you want, we will stay here for a little while, so you should rest while you can," Sakura informed her blonde teammate and started to eat some fruit herself.

"Really?" Naruto asked. She didn't want to waste too much time to rest. "For how long?"

"Of course you can rest, and you don't have to think about time, just rest," the pink-haired kunoichi reassured her smiling. Sometimes, she felt an urge to protect Naruto, she didn't know how to explain it, but right now, she felt the need to protect and reassure her teammate, like a sister would do with her younger siblings.

"Okay," was Naruto's soft reply with a hint of tiredness in her voice. Twelve minutes later, the young Uzumaki was fast asleep.

"Do you think the mission will go well with Naruto in this condition?" Sasuke asked the medic-nin. "I don't think she'll be able to take care of herself in case something bad happens." He was getting more and more worried – sure, maybe she won't blow up their cover after all, but if they were identified by the enemy, Naruto was going to be their weak spot. They would see a pregnant woman, and they'd know that the rest of the team would make sure to get her away from them – unhurt.

"I think that her body is still getting used to the drug, she should be better by tomorrow," Sakura replied confidently. "If it's not the case, we will inform Tsunade-sama. However, she knew what would happen to Naruto when taking the pills. Perhaps it's not as big of a risk of getting attacked as we believe . . ." The young Uchiha nodded. Tsunade knew what she was doing; they should only contact her if the situation got way out of control.

"I don't know the extent of those pills, but if they're really effective, she'll feel like a pregnant woman for real," she added glancing at her sleeping teammate. "She should feel tired and sleepy; maybe she'll experience morning sicknesses – Tsunade mentioned that bacteria after all – mood swings, cravings and/or repulsiveness towards food; I'm going for the former."

A raised eyebrow was the only reply she got from her male teammate. He wasn't prepared for this kind of situation. He'd never in his entire life dealt with a pregnant woman, let alone a pregnant woman that acted like Naruto; extremely carelessly.

"Actually, these symptoms are the objectives of the pills, I just hope she won't be too tired and out of chakra when she needs to protect herself," Sakura looked at Sasuke and added; "Tsunade-sama thought that with Kyūbi's endless chakra, she should be alright, but we need to look after her. I'll talk to her, but I'm not sure if she'll tell us when she feels weak, she'll most likely do what she did today; keep on pushing herself even if she feels tired or hurt."

Sasuke nodded, he wasn't cold hearted, and he wasn't going to let Naruto hurt herself because of her own stubbornness. "Since you're her 'husband' – and it's part of your cover – you keep a watchful eye on her. You've got to act very protective of her as well," she said and sighed. "But, I think that she should be alright as long as she doesn't push herself to far, I just fear for her chakra rate that's all. Once at Ishi, we will see if the plan needs to be changed." Sasuke nodded again.

They had thought about different possibilities and plans, they were ready . . . but the young Uchiha couldn't help but feel insecure – so un-Uchiha-like. He'd went on several dangerous missions and always felt confident, but for this one he was a bit lost, he never had to act or play a role; a husband role and with the dobe nonetheless. He sighed mentally. He – in all honesty – had no idea what a husband should do around his pregnant wife. Speaking of pregnant, he knew _nothing_ about it, so he couldn't really help Naruto.

He shouldn't have any doubt, he was a ninja and more importantly, he was an Uchiha; an Uchiha that never backs down or hesitates. He wondered how his father would react if he knew that his son was hesitant because of a simple undercover mission. He clenched his hands into fists at that thought; he didn't need to think about that at the moment; he needed to concentrate. Why was his father hunting his thoughts even when he was far away from him? He hated that, he knew that he was craving for his father acknowledgement, and it made him sick, he wanted to forget about his father so bad, but he kept hunting his thoughts; his dreams . . . he was getting tired.

_When is he going to leave me alone? _he asked himself and raked a hand through his nicely shaped hair.

"—ke, what do you think?" Sasuke caught the last part of Sakura's question. It made him mad to know that he was too caught up by his own thoughts to even notice his teammate's presence. He had to train on that part.

"We need to rest," Sasuke said to hide his lack of concentration. "I'll keep watch first, make sure to rest well. I'll get you later." His pink-haired teammate nodded believing that he had heard her. Fortunately he had said something related to the topic.

Sasuke took place on a branch hovering over their little camp, the air was hot – almost suffocating. The sun was high, indicating that it was around 2pm. The young shinobi closed his eyes to feel his surroundings, memories from the previous night resurfacing involuntarily . . .

_It was the day before Sasuke was supposed to leave for his mission. Tomorrow was the D-Day. He wasn't looking forwards to it, to be honest. He was supposed to be Naruto's husband, it didn't bode well._

_The Uchiha family was silently having diner, the only noises that could be heard were the ticking clock, and little clinking of porcelain dishes when bowls were being filled up. For most people, such silence would have been uncomfortable, but for the Uchiha it was common; it was welcomed._

_Soon the silence was broken by the young son of the family._

"_Father. Mother," Sasuke called his parents to get their attention. "Hokage-sama assigned me and my team to a new mission, and I'll be leaving tomorrow," the seventeen-year-old said. _

_His father nodded. "A ninja shouldn't stay inactive for such a long period. Your last mission was a month ago." Trust Fugaku to point out the negative point first, it was easy to read his unsaid words though: '__I hope you didn't slack off.'_

"_I was in a meeting with Hokage-sama earlier today, and she didn't tell me about your mission," he added, locking eyes with his son. "What is this mission about anyway? For how long will you be gone?"_

"_I'm sorry Father, it's an A-Ranked mission, I can't give any information about it," Sasuke replied professionally, he had the perfect excuse to avoid talking to his father. "Concerning the length of the mission; ten months or so, it may be longer, it may be shorter." The latter nodded clearly pleased by his son's answer._

"_Congratulation Sasuke, good luck with your mission," his mother congratulated him cheerfully with a smile gracing her lips. She looked eerily much like a female version of Sasuke, while Fugaku looked very much like the oldest Uchiha heir; Itachi. "When are you going to be back then? You said around ten months? That's awfully long."_

"_When our job is done we can return home, and concerning the current circumstances it will take around ten months," Sasuke replied then took a sip of water. A pregnancy took a little over nine months – technically ten – so it was how much time they had on their hands basically. If they had to, they were going to use all the time given them._

"_Be careful honey. Itachi is on a mission and now you as well; I'm going to feel lonely without you," Mikoto said. She was such a kind person, and a very loving mother. Sasuke wondered vaguely if Naruto would be able to act like his mother, maybe in that case, he would be able to tolerate her daily presence during the mission._

"_Don't worry, I'll be back soon" Sasuke reassured his mother. Then he excused himself from table and went to his room._

_He closed the door behind him before sitting down onto the futon. He buried his face in his hands, and exhaled loudly._

_His father was looking down upon him._

_He cursed, holding himself from crashing his fist on the nearby wall._

_He wanted to ignore his father's denoted comments, but it was really hard. This mission was going to give him some fresh air, he needed to stay away from that man for a while, he was driving him crazy, and he hated being affected by him this much._

_A soft knocking on his door pulled him out of his internal battle. "Honey, can I come in?" It was his mother standing on the other side, most likely worried about her youngest son._

"_Come in," Sasuke replied sitting up straight on the futon, his posture a bit more relaxed than before. Mikoto always calmed him down by her mere presence, only. He was not a mother's boy, his mother was his little sunshine that's all. He rarely expressed his feelings towards her, but he knew that she understood him very well; he never had to word his thoughts with her. She was amazing just like that. He guessed that it was some of the characteristics he was looking for in a woman to marry himself one day. After all, it's not uncommon for men to look for a woman that reminds them of their mother. _

"_When are you going to meet with your team?" she asked approaching her son and sitting by his left on the futon._

"_We're going to meet at 6am," he replied, and his mother nodded knowingly._

"_I learned a new recipe from Madame Akimichi today, I'll try it when you're back then," she said smiling, completely changing the topic. "It's called Sencha Cake, a green tea flavored cake. I know you hate sweets but this one is really delicious, I'm sure you'll like it." She smiled warmly at him, and said no more._

"_I'll try it when I get back," he replied, catching his mother request, she meant by that 'please come back safe'._

_Mikoto knew that her son – like many other Uchiha – hated it when she asked them to be careful. She rarely ever said the words though, today was the recipe excuse._

"_Great! Good night honey," she said smiling and then left the room, letting the door fall shut behind her._

_The young Uchiha looked at her retreating back and smiled a little himself; he felt much better he realized. Only his mother had the power to do so. Only his mother._

A faint cracking noise was heard; bringing the young Uchiha back to reality. He looked around him and felt someone's presence coming from the direction of the river. He jumped down the tree and landed by Sakura's side. The woman was frowning at him as she sat still, looking at the direction from where the sound was coming.

"Someone is coming. Wake Naruto up," he whispered his eyes glued to the spot where the unknown person should appear.

Sakura nodded and went to wake her sleeping teammate. The dark-haired ninja took silent steps forwards, doing his best to detect the enemy's presence – to have the upper hand in case of an attack. He looked at his surroundings, calculating meticulously the distance between himself and the trees. He had enough room to use his Katon no jutsu without burning down the whole place, that's good.

Once in front of the bushes, he looked through them and saw a young man crouched down, he was turning his back to him, and didn't look like he was conscious of Team Seven's presence. A backpack was thrown randomly at the man's feet, a fishing rod at his left and a bucket at his right.

"Aha! Caught you!" the man said getting up from his crouched position, and turned around. He was holding a fish in his hands and had apparently just gotten back from the river. "AHH!" The man hollered, putting his right hand on his chest as he noticed that he wasn't alone. "Man! You freaked me out!" he accused Sasuke and bent down to pick up the fish he'd dropped.

"Sorry. I thought it was an animal or a ninja," Sasuke apologized, inspecting the man's appearance.

The man was taller than him and seemed older too, twenty or twenty-two maximum. He had dark gray hair, spiked up at the top, and matching dark gray eyes; his dark skin made his other features stand out. Sasuke noticed a weird scar on the man's chin, a very noticeable cross. He was wearing white pants and a gray kimono vest with a green belt tied at his waist. He had a built body. He was strong but didn't look dangerous.

"Hehe, it could happen to anyone! It's cool; I never really saw you around, I'm Kaiza," the man introduced himself offering his right hand to Sasuke. "I just got back from the river, got a nice catch as you can see!" he said and grinned, as he held up the fish. He'd stuck his fingers through the fish's eyeballs and was now carrying it by the head.

"Sasuke," the young Uchiha replied shaking the offered hand firmly. "We're travelers," he added gauging the man's reaction, as he stepped aside and showed the man their camp.

"Need any direction? I'm just going to prepare this fish, and then I was about to look for some worms. As you may have already guessed, I'm here for some fishing," Kaiza grinned rubbing the back of his head – both his personality and behavior reminded the raven of his teammate. "It's my secret spot, so please don't tell anyone," he finished and smirked playfully.

"I won't, don't worry," Sasuke said confirming that the man was not a shinobi.

"So where are you going?" the man asked after a while. He'd prepared the fish with salt and had then wrapped it up in bitch bark.

"Ishigakure, but we're not really sure of where to go from here though," the young Uchiha replied. The man's presence meant the beginning of their mission.

"Really? I'm from Ishi and was heading there, it's not that far away. However, people there are not used to foreigners. Can I know what business brings you there?" Kaiza asked cautiously and titled his head to the side. He didn't want to look unwelcoming, but he knew that the Land of Earth was going through a rough time of some sort, so it wasn't the safest of places.

"I'm traveling with my wife and our personal doctor," Sasuke lied perfectly, the man only smiled as he heard this. Even though Sasuke was nearly eighteen, he could pass for at least twenty-three.

"We set up camp behind these bushes, my wife wasn't feeling very well. She's pregnant," he added titling his head towards the camp he'd shown the man before. "I must join them or they'll worry about me, so if you want to, you could come join us."

"Let me give you some of my fish though, your wife needs some energy if she's pregnant," the tan man said offering three fish tied tightly with a rope through their eyes and heads; birch bark covering their bodies and tails.

"Thank you," the dark-haired ninja thanked him taking the offered fish. "Follow me, I'll introduce you to my little family."

The two men headed to Team Seven's camp. Naruto was sitting on a rock, whining about her stiff neck and rubbing her sides because of a soreness, her little nap helped her feel better, but she slept in a rather uncomfortable position. Sakura was massaging her neck and shoulders giggling. They had guessed that the place was clear and relaxed, waiting for Sasuke to return.

When said raven appeared, he nodded to his teammates confirming that the man was no harm, and signaling the beginning of the mission.

"Naruto, how are you feeling?" He asked approaching his 'wife' then crouched down at her level; he put one of his hands on her shoulder and the other one on her cheek, hoping to look credible.

For a little second, Naruto forgot that they had to act, and looked at Sasuke questioningly wondering why the hell the Teme cared about her, then it clicked and she replied smiling softly.

"I'm feeling better now, don't worry," Sasuke and Sakura mentally sighed in relief after hearing Naruto's answer.

"Who's that?" Sakura asked her teammate looking at Kaiza.

"I'm Kaiza," the older man introduced himself approaching Sakura. "Nice to meet you, I'm your guide to Ishi" he added with a sweet smile and offered his hand to the young pink-haired kunoichi.

"I'm Sakura, nice to meet you," she said shaking the man's hand. _Our guide, huh? _She thought triumphantly.

"You're his personal doctor, right?" the older man asked and received a nod from Sakura.

"And you must be Sasuke-san's wife," he asked looking down at Naruto who was staring at him with a very open interest.

She got up and grinned. "Yeah, I'm Naruto, nice to meet you too."_ Let the fun begin,_ she thought excitedly.


	5. At Ishigakure

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto-honey, he's Masashi Kishimoto's property, but I would be the happiest girl in the universe if he gives him to me … but that will never happen *sniff*

Warning: In this story the Wave arc never happened, I'm going to introduce its characters in the upcoming chapters, but don't be confused they have nothing to do with that arc.

Back to the story with the fourth chapter!

**Chapter four: At Ishigakure**  
_Written by Itooshii Koneko  
Betaed by MrsHellman_

Running into Kaiza meant the beginning for the mission. It was a small buildup before meeting the villagers and eventual members of that new organization. They would have to know things about Ishigakure and Iwakagure, so for them to get to know Kaiza was splendid. However, it was a matter of trust. If they messed up now, they'd most likely not be able to finish the mission after all.

"How are you feeling Naruto-san? Sasuke-san told me earlier that you weren't feeling good?" Kaiza asked looking at Naruto's petite body where she was sitting, resting against a tree; she looked so young with her small body frame. Her blue eyes reminded him of dolls, and that most likely added to the effect of her being something fragile. A doll is something very diminutive

Feeling the man's calculating stare, Naruto chose to give him a little hint. She tugged a blond lock behind her ear with her left hand, showing off the ring on her finger. Tsunade provided a set of matching rings to the 'married' couple. They were made of white gold and were just a plain band; however, Naruto's had a small diamond molded into the band. They were simple, nothing fancy. It fit them.

"Yes, thank you Kaiza-san. It was just sunstroke, I'm feeling better now. Thank you for asking," Naruto reassured the young man offering him a fake shy smile and looked away from him, focusing on a tree not too far away from them.

"I gave some fresh fish to your husband. This river flows from a jade's mine; it gives the fish a special taste. They're really delicious you should try some, it will be good for you," Kaiza explained glancing at the ring unintentionally, studying it.

The blond looked at Sasuke, then at the three innocent fish lying on the dirty ground just behind him. She suddenly felt her stomach flip; an acid taste flew up followed by an ever more acid liquid. She put her hands on her mouth prying that bad feeling to go away. She closed her eyes as she frowned and let her hand tighten around her mouth as she felt her gag reflexes make themselves known once again.

"Naruto what's wrong?" Sakura asked worriedly as she moved from her spot in front of the young woman and sat down next to her. Sasuke narrowed his eyes, and put his left hand on the blonde girl's back, and began to rub soothing circles. He wondered if the girl was acting or if it was real, one second the girl was fine smiling and talking, and the second one quiet and looking bothered.

Naruto felt the taste of the apples mixed with the gastric acid flowing up her throat at full speed, she swallowed the first wave of vomit but couldn't take it anymore. She threw up on the spot coughing and spitting, which happened to be Sasuke's sandals. Naruto would have laughed her ass off if she wasn't feeling so sick. She closed her eyes and took deep breathes to calm her stomach. She was not aware of the perplexed raven next to her.

_The hell . . .?_ The vomit-victim couldn't believe what had just happened; the dobe had thrown up on him? He looked down, and saw his feet drenched in a yellowish pool of vomit with partyl digested pieces of apples. He was furious, yes, and if it wasn't for Kaiza's presence he would have killed that dobe over and over again.

Sakura's mind went blank. The situation was as scandalous as it was hilarious, she just . . . blinked. What else could she have just done? She was brought back from her stupor as Naruto gagged and gulped several times over, trying not to throw up again.

"Are you okay? Holy— you got really bad sunstroke, it wasn't smart to travel in the middle of summer," Kaiza stated looking worriedly at Naruto and rushed over to her with a cloth. He let her wipe her mouth with it before he looks over at Sasuke, disgustingly. Something along the lines of 'poor guy' was visible in his eyes.

The sick kunoishi looked down at Sasuke's feet then up at his face, the sight was hilarious but even a knucklehead like her knew when it was better to keep it down, so she simply smiled apologetically.

"I-I'm so sorry, _honey_. I couldn't hold it down, please forgive me," she begged her husband for forgiveness, sending him her most innocent puppy eyes. She did look a bit pale and sweaty, but was quickly regaining her color, so the Uchiha didn't think too much about it.

This made the young Uchiha's eye twitch. She had just ruined his sandals and she was now making fun of him?

In Kaiza's head, the situation was not funny at all. He looked at the young couple suspiciously. Naruto's begging sounded like her husband was usually brutal and it made him wonder if the tall teen was abusive. He waited for Sasuke's reply to confirm his guess.

"It's okay _Naru_, are you feeling better now?" was Sasuke's reply. _Calm down; don't let the dobe ruin the mission. _He would never admit that Naruto wasn't the one on the verge of ruining the mission, but his self-control was.

"Follow me Naru, you need to clean yourself," Sakura said rushing Naruto to the river, instead of letting things escalate between Sasuke and Naruto. "You too Sasuke-kun," she added looking back at her teammate. He sighed and nodded, then looked at the silent man looking at his teammates' retreating back.

"I think that her stomach can't handle the fish for now," he explained taking off his sandals, "with her being pregnant and all."

"Yeah, I guess you're right, but I can't understand why fish would be bad for pregnant women, it's a lot of protein," the older man replied disbelievingly, following the young Uchiha to the river as well.

He let Sasuke clean himself up, and in the meantime Kaiza summarized the whole situation to himself. The man was travelling far away from his homeland; accompanied by his _very_ young and pregnant wife, and a doctor that seemed to be relatively young as well, who is also the man's cousin. _What are they doing alone, without their parents, anyway? They must be running away from their village or something,_ he concluded and studied the man before him whose sandals were now vomit-free but wet.

xxx

"Are you feeling better now?" Sakura asked while Naruto was washing her face crouched down by the riverside. They were able to see Sasuke and Kaiza from there, but were far enough away from them to be able to talk freely.

Naruto got up taking a deep breath, and looked up at Sakura. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm better now," she replied with a tired voice. "I hate being sick, this whole vomiting thing is something I'd rather live without," she whined and closed her eyes as she sat back on the ground and lay a hand over her stomach. "When is it going to go away?"

Poor girl, she didn't know that it was only the beginning, but at the same time, Tsunade didn't have to give her so many symptoms. She could have skipped the nauseous part for example.

Sakura smiled sadly and took a seat next to the blonde, who had regained her color completely. "Pregnant women experience morning sicknesses. It doesn't mean that it only happens in the morning. It should stop in the second trimester of the pregnancy, but for some women it goes on till the end," the medic-nin explained professionally to the wide eyed kunoichi who was now rubbing her stomach absentmindedly as if trying to calm it.

"You're kidding right? I can't be sick for the upcoming eight months!"

"No, but I'm sure it'll get better, don't worry." She tried to reassure her teammate but it was futile. "The pills are working on your system; everything should stabilize in few days, so there's really no need to worry."

"Argh! I can't believe that I agreed to do this mission," she whispered the last couple of words. "Tell me what I should know. I have no clue about this kind of things. I thought pregnant women only have a huge belly, and give birth after nine months," she said and Sakura looked at her quizzically for a brief moment.

"You do know how babies are made, don't you?" she finally asked rising a curious eyebrow. After all, at the ninja academy they didn't really focus upon the human reproduction, they only had some brief talk about it. Besides, Naruto was never payed attention in class.

However, the blonde only blushed upon hearing Sakura's question. "Of course I do!" she shouted angrily, her blush covering more of her face. "I'm not stupid you know," she added with an equally high voice.

Sakura sighed as she heard this. "Okay, okay, don't yell, I heard you all right."

Naruto only clicked her tongue and crossed her arms on her chest. "Hmph. You'd think I take this mission otherwise, huh . . ." she muttered under her breath.

Sakura had no idea what she was talking about. "Okay, stop sulking like a child, and then I'll tell you about pregnancies," Sakura said looking at her childish friend.

"I'm not sulking!" was the reply with a stomping foot to accentuate the words.

"You should avoid fthe types of food that makes you nauseous, since your body is rejecting it," Sakura began to explain; Kaiza wasn't with them, so it was safe to talk about the girl's condition. "If you feel tired, sick or have mood swings, it's normal so don't worry. Also, don't exhaust yourself too much, no need to overdo it, your mission is to make the villagers talk to you that's all."

Naruto nodded slowly. "I know, I just hope that I'm not going to be sick all the time"

"Take it easy, especially the first couple of days, okay," Sakura insisted.

"All right," the young girl answered and sighed.

They headed back to their camp where the two men were waiting for them. Apparently they were having a conversation about something – well Kaiza was talking, Sasuke was only listening and 'hn'ing' every now and then. The young fisherman was explaining the extraordinary path of the river, and its curative effects on humans, not really that interesting if you asked Sasuke, but better be nice or they'd most likely screw up.

". . . that's why I like to come fishing here, I'm sure that I have the best fish of the village," he finished grinning.

"The water here is really curative?" asked the medic-nin approaching them.

"Oh, hello there Sakura-san, Naruto-san. Yes, especially for rheumatism, when the weather becomes warm enough, lots of villagers come here to swim. Sick or not, it's great to relax here when it's hot outside. Actually, people from mostly Ishi hang out here every weekend during summer," the fisherman explained.

Sasuke nodded, this was mentioned in Team Eight's report, but the favorite spot of the villagers was supposed to be further down, on the other side of the river.

"I'd like to come back here to swim" Naruto confessed cheerfully as she sat down next to Sasuke, Sakura sitting down by Kaiza.

"Yeah, me too; it's a shame we didn't pack swimsuits," Sakura replied looking at Naruto significantly. First thing first, it was part of the plan toget close to the villagers and win their trust, they were not here on a vacation.

They continued to talk some more, and then they decided to keep on moving. Sasuke finished packing their stuff lying on the ground, which basically were Naruto's sleeping bag, two bottle of water, and packages. Naruto approached her 'husband' and helped him with the packing, while Sakura was taking care of her own belongings.

"So guys, are you going to stay in Ishi temporally? Or are you planning to live here definitively?" Kaiza asked hoping to have his answers quickly and they started to move again.

"We want to live here," Sasuke replied before Naruto could say anything. She glared at him. "At least for a while."

"You live in Ishi, don't you? For how long? And what do you think about it? Is it good enough to raise kids?" Naruto asked, eagerly pulling the wife act amazingly well. Her faked husband and faked cousin-in-law were absolutely stunned, if they didn't know her they would have believed that she was really planning on moving to Ishi to 'raise kids' as she had said.

"It's not only good, it's perfect. You'll see for yourself, you'll like it here," the older man replied proudly. "I've been living there since four years approximately, the scenery is amazing. You'll also love the neighborhoods!"

"That sounds great, I'd like a good neighborhood around, they can kept me watch the kids as well and—"

Sasuke was amazed to say the least._ What the . . . is it really the dobe speaking here? Didn't know she could be civilized and polite, _he thought, not letting his surprise show on his face.

Kaiza and Naruto continued to speak about Ishi and raising kids and having a family. It made both Sasuke and Sakura frown sadly, because soon they realized that the blonde was asking things she'd be wondering herself if she decided to look for a nice place and start a family. The conversation continued, and so did their journey . . .

xxx

"Follow me, my boat is this way!" Kaiza yelled over the flood of people surrounding them, pointing at his left. "We'll go to the docks. They are closer than the main gates!" he said and Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura followed him. They'd reached Iwa only a couple of minutes ago, and Naruto was amazed by the cheer size of the village, it was much bigger than Konoha.

"Thanks a lot Kaiza-san, the walk tired me a lot," the blonde girl thanked him politely.

"You're welcome, Naruto-san!" the tan man answered and smiled at her.

They followed him to his boat and took in the sight; it was a small embarkation, painted in white with dark brown spots where the paint was no longer covering the wood, showing them that it had been used for years. Kaiza hopped inside, and put his stuff under the small beams to make room for his guests. He helped Sakura and Naruto get onboard, while Sasuke took their luggage.

Said raven took the spar oars and rowed along with the other male, following Kaiza's directions, but ignoring his excessive and useless talking. He was focused on cautiously analyzing their surroundings, but nothing was suspicious or felt out of place, it was a simple river passing through a forest. He glanced behind him and saw Naruto leaning on Sakura's side in the slightest. He frowned a little, but let it go as the pink-haired girl invited Naruto to put her head on her lap.

"You can put your head on my laps if you want to, you look really tired," she said with a small smile on her lips, her voice loud.

"Oh no, thanks Sakura-chan," the blonde girl replied with a pink hue coloring her cheeks. _If only she was this kind with me for real,_ she thought and looked down sadly as she gulped.

Sakura frowned, not really getting what was wrong with her friend, being tired and shy all the time. It was weird, no need to act for something as meaningless as resting. It wasn't part of the plan. Well actually, they didn't set a definite plan about their act, but the blonde could keep on behaving as she normally would, no one was stopping her.

"Come on Naruto," she insisted pulling her friend by her shoulders, laying the blonde head on her lap.

"O-Okay," she replied feeling uncomfortable and slightly sad at the same time. Sakura was never this kind, and now she was being gentle just for the sake of the mission.

Naruto sighed and closed her eyes. It felt great to be held close to a warm body. The only occasions when she had ever been embraced was when she either woke up from a coma, or survived from a life or death situation, but it was usually followed by fussing, screaming and beating. She wondered for the nth time in her short life; 'how did it feel to be embraced by a mother?' They say that mother's hugs are the best. She frowned again and turned her head towards Sakura's stomach, her nose slightly touching the fabric. She sighed as the slight rocking movements of the boat lulled her to sleep without further thoughts.

The pink-haired girl looked down at her sleeping friend and smiled, the latter was clutching the white fabric of her skirt like a child would do with its mother. She pushed Naruto's blonde lock behind her ear and patted her head gently.

A slight chuckle was heard which brought Sasuke to tear his eyes from his two teammates, and look at the fisherman quizzically.

"It's obvious that you're head over heels in love with her," Kaiza said as a matter of fact and chuckled and titled his head towards Naruto as Sasuke showed a look of confusion. "When did you two get married?"

The young Uchiha was taken aback by the question and statement from the older man. He raised a refined eyebrow. Thought of how much of an idiot the man was for believing that he was in love with the dobe, was rushing through the raven's head.

"It's been three months," he replied coolly, and kept rowing not commenting about the 'head-over-heels-in-love' part. He sighed mentally.

"Hm," the fisherman looked down at Naruto's sleeping figure then at Sasuke. "She must be really tired, we will reach the docks in a couple of hours, you can rest if you want to. I'll wake you up later on."

"No it's okay," he insisted and shook his heads briefly.

"Alright then, your choice," the older man nodded and shrugged as he looked back at the two females, making sure they were doing well before focusing on the oars once more.

The rest of the little trip was silent, and as promised, they reached the docks in about three hours later; Naruto had slept through the whole thing, missing the snack they'd all eaten.

"Naruto," Sakura shook her friend slightly, and whispered: "We're in Ishi, wake up."

Sun kissed eyelids fluttered open revealing two beautiful blue orbs. Kaiza almost forgot how to breathe, he wasn't into pedophilia or stealing someone else wife, but truth be told, the young girl had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen in his whole life. Sasuke saw the man staring and it oddly annoyed him a little.

He felt himself sigh as he himself looked over at the sleeping blonde. "Wake up already," he ordered harshly.

"Teme!" Naruto was on her feet awake and angry in a blink of an eye. The sleep was still evident in her eyes, but the anger was clearly visible behind said sleepiness. Trust Sasuke to piss her off in record time. "What the hell is your problem, anyway? No need to holler," she growled at him trying to glare at him, but her out-of-bed features – husky voice, messy hair and sleep-clouded eyes – were ruining her efforts to make the Uchiha regret his words.

Kaiza blinked not really registering what just happened. Naruto and Sasuke were arguing? They'd acted all lovey-dovey a couple of hours ago. He frowned a bit and hoped that their relationship wasn't an arranged one, because it sure looked liked it for the moment.

Sakura approached her blonde friend, and laughed nervously looking at Kaiza. She put her hands on the girl's shoulders, and pushed her away from Sasuke.

"Naruto-_chan_, please don't let your _mood-swings_ control your temper," Sakura half-hissed, half-advised in her friends ear, and Naruto – being the sleepy, hormone attacked female she was – didin't understand what the pinkette was getting at.

"The hell I have mood-swings!" shouted the angry girl and glared at Sakura, and Kaiza burst out laughing. Apparently he found the entire thing amusing.

"Not a morning person I presume!" Kaiza said, still laughing, his grin stretching over his face.

"Huh!" Naruto looked at him and then it hit her. _We're on a mission! Damn, I forgot!_

"Hehe, sorry about that," she apologized rubbing the back of her head and blushing cutely. Sakura sighed in relief as she noticed the blonde had finally understood what was going on.

The older man shook his head smiling, as if waving the entire thing off. "Follow me; we have to go to the reception desk first."

"Reception desk?" Sakura asked with an arched brow, Sasuke looked just as confused. The ones back at home had only talked about the checkpoint at the main gate.

"Yes, visitors must report there to have a pass to stay in the village. Don't worry, it's just a formality to be sure that people here are not dangerous," he replied smiling reassuringly. "It's for the safety of the people living here."

"That's very reassuring," Naruto said smiling and put a hand on her stomach, letting her fingertips touch it briefly.

"Yeah," he said taking Sakura's luggage out of the boat, Sasuke was taking care of his and Naruto's. "I guess it's a good thing to know, since you're planning on raising the kids here." He'd obviously noticed the blonde's gesture.

Naruto smiled.

The docks were empty, different boats of different sizes and shapes were parked along the bridge. Some were used for fishing; it was easy to guess, judging by the fishing nets hanging near the boats. Other boats looked like they were used for importation and/or exportation.

_Are they used to bring weapons or mercenaries?_ The three ninjas wondered, sharing the same knowing look discretely.

"We should find a friend of mine there," the fisherman added pointing at the end of the bridge where some huts were located, along with a few stores. He was pointing at a small hut painted in a pale blue color with a white roof. It was standing at the right corner of the bridge; had a small window with white shutters barely hanging, and had a small table with two chairs near its door.

The hut didn't look out of place at all, strangely enough with the shining sun above it; the white sand at its bottom; a mix of dark green and brown of the high cliff behind it; the little shelter – or whatever it was supposed to be – looked like it was the very definition of peace. The only noise that could be heard was mother's nature harmonious voice, the sound of the waves, the gull's songs, the little wind made the shutters' hut hit its wall rhythmically . . .

However, all of this only screamed 'peace and loneliness' even louder.

A man came out the hut and looked at Kaiza while polishing his glasses. He studied the tan man and then turned his gaze towards the newcomers, and once again at Kaiza. He put his glasses back on and titled his head to the side with a smile grazing his lips.

"Hey Tazuna, you still have nothing better to do than hiding in there," the fisherman shouted approaching his friend with a huge smile on his lips.

"Oh shut up! You should feel honored to have someone welcome you when you're here in Ishi, not everyone wants to see your face you know. It's not _that _pretty," the man retorted back and smiled just as much.

"I resent that, _old man. _As if you were waiting for me to come back," Kaiza replied chuckling. They were now facing each other, with the members of Team Seven standing behind the fisherman, feeling out of place.

"That's not really the kind of fish I was expecting you to catch," the man stated pointing at the newcomers with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh sorry, I forgot to introduce you!" Kaiza apologized rubbing the back of his head sheepishly as he turned to the three youngsters.

"Tazuna, this is Sasuke-san," he said pointing at Sasuke, who nodded politely. "Naruto-san, his wife," the blonde smiled politely, "and Sakura-san, his cousin," the two girls bowed politely at the same time and Tazuna nodded slowly.

"And everyone, this is Tazuna, my soon-to-be, father-in-law," he finished grinning, his face becoming a shade darker due to excitement.

"It's not common to have newcomers here, what business brings you here?" Tazuna asked upon exchanging polite greetings.

"We're planning to live here," Sasuke replied courtly and bowed slightly.

Tazuna held a suspicious look on his face, and it made the raven-haired ninja wonder if the man was their enemy or not. His appearance was innocent and totally harmless. He was old, maybe sixty or seventy; tall; very well-built for his age; tan, and he had dark brown eyes. His hair was gray as was his beard and moustache. His clothing was a simple dark brown shirt with white pants, using a rope to keep them up, and the thin glasses on his nose gave him a serious and smart look, but the effect was ruined by the little blush on his cheeks and the faint smell of alcohol. The man was drunk, but not wasted.

"Naruto-san is pregnant and they want to raise their kids here," Kaiza added to clarify things for his 'father-in-law'. "Can you land me your carriage? They are tired and the reception desk is still far away from here. I'd like to get there before it gets too dark." Kaiza looked up at the sky and then down at the long shadows on the ground. The sun was about to set.

"I'm coming with you, there is no way I'll let you drive without me," the old man replied as he nodded.

"What is that supposed to mean, you old man?"

"Stop calling me that, and I'm doing this since I'm one to learn from my mistakes."

"I resent that too."

xxx

While Tazuna and Kaiza were sitting at the front, the three newcomers were in the back of the carriage, they took their time to explore the village of stone with their eyes. It sure was a different sight in comparison to Konoha.

It was a typical village actually, if you judged it from the inhabitants; different shops of different businesses along the streets; villagers pouring at every direction; some children running and playing around; some others, gawking in front of candy shops. It felt welcoming and safe, except for the fact that everyone was looking at them with curiosity – they really weren't used to foreigners – and whispers could be heard in every street they passed by. Quite frankly, it was starting to get on their nerves, but they could understand it all the same. Since Ishi was quite an isolated village, tourists and people from the outside were not seen all too often.

However, after twenty minutes, they finally reached the reception desk. It was a three-story building, surrounded by a well maintained garden, a big plaque was hanging at the top with the words 'Welcome to Ishi' written in gold characters. Simple but exquisite.

Once inside, they were greeted by a young receptionist who bowed at them politely, and invited them to sit and wait in the waiting room. She even offered some tea but they declined. A bulky man took their luggage and disappeared in the corridor. The receptionist quickly explained that it was for security measure to check strangers' bags. It made Naruto's left eye twitch, why couldn't they be there as they executed this procedure?

"Kaiza-san, follow me please," the young woman finally said. Kaiza complied and took a seat by her desk, which was located across the waiting room. The man was obviously answering her questions about the three visitors, and every detail was written down by his interviewer. The three shinobi narrowed their eyes as they took in the kind of surveillance they had in the village. They'd have to be careful. However, this was nothing unpredictable; Team Eight went through the same treatment.

A middle aged man approached the three ninjas and gave them a form to fill. They put their personal information, such as their names, original village, jobs and so on, on the paper; they also had to fill in questions about ninjas and their knowledge about it. When they finished, the man took the forms and gave them to the receptionist who immediately took a quick look at them. Naruto's was the one on top, and Sasuke noticed how the woman smiled slightly as she read it, it was apparently about the pregnant question . . . Naruto and Sakura had to fill in a question about whether or not they'd ever been pregnant with a child.

At the end of Kaiza's interview, the young woman took the newly created file about the three strangers and headed down the corridor. The fisherman stayed at her desk, while Tazuna was keeping a not-so-discrete watchful eye on Team Seven. Everyone was careful as to who they were it seemed.

Five minutes later, two men wearing suits showed up, accompanied by the young receptionist.

"Welcome to Ishi," the shorter man greeted the three ninjas cheerfully. "My name is Gatō; I'm in charge of the Ins and Outs of the village. Please follow me; we'll discuss some matters more comfortably in my office." Team Seven followed him with faked polite smiled and bows.

Gatō's office was spacious and very sophisticated, the amount of books the man possessed was impressive, but they hardly believed that he had really read them all. He didn't have a smart look to be honest, he was bold and very short, and didn't seem too old maybe forty-five, little less or more.

"Yuuhi-kun . . ." Gatō looked down at the file in hands and then up at Sasuke. "Yuuhi Sasuke-kun," he asked and got a polite nod as an acknowledgement from the raven.

"And your wife Yuuhi Naruto-san, and cousin Yuuhi Sakura-san," he added. The two girls smiled, although it felt weird to be called 'wife' for Naruto; she was still trying to get used to it and it was a bit hard, to be honest.

"You're from the ninja village Konoha." It wasn't a question, it was a statement, so no one bothered to reply waiting for the man to ask what he wanted to know. "So you're ninjas right?" he asked and looked at Sasuke, and then Sakura, not bothering to look at the blonde. It made Naruto frown.

"I was at the ninja academy because of my parents but refused to work as such, I graduated, but never went further than that," Sasuke replied locking eyes with Gatō. "Do you have a problem with that?" he harshly added glaring at the old man, but it still held a polite tone to it.

"No, I do not," Gatō chuckled and looked down at the file once more. "Not at all actually. But why did you refuse to be a ninja?"

"I don't want to fight and lose my life for cowards," was the raven ninja's, cool reply. Gatō smiled at his reply clearly pleased by the young man's behavior and answer.

"And what about you two?" he asked looking at Naruto and Sakura. "You've got to have some ninja training as well," he stated and lifted an eyebrow at Sakura who was about to answer the man's question.

"I followed a medic-nin training but worked in the hospital for less than one year actually," the pink-haired kunoichi said. "I was wondering if it could be possible to work here as a doctor, or a nurse, I want to help people, it's very important to me."

"That's really nice of you, I think that we can do that" the old man said and then he let his eyes wander to Naruto who was standing on Sasuke's right side. "And you then? Yuuhi-san?"

"I'm not a ninja and I'm not planning to be one," the blonde answered with a smile. "I just want to raise my child in peace," Naruto replied caressing her flat belly. She looked so genuine that it was disturbing for her two teammates.

"You're right, children need their parents, like Yuuhi-kun here said, dying for cowards is not worthy. But please enlighten me, how come you're traveling while you're pregnant? And what was your family's reaction?" Gatō's questions were disturbing, and Sasuke could feel Naruto taking a deep breath before answering.

"They let us go, it was hard to convince them at the beginning, but they understood our wish to live in a peaceful village," Sakura replied before Naruto could make a sound. The blonde looked over at her. "Since I'm a doctor, aunty asked me to come and take care of Naruto and I said yes."

"I understand," Gatō said writing some notes in their file. Suddenly, a knock was heard, and the middle aged man from earlier came in, he approached Gatō and whispered something in his ear; Gatō nodded and thanked the other man who left the office as fast as he came.

"You can stay, but we don't have available rooms in our hotel, you're going to stay at Tazuna's, he already agreed, is it okay with you?" the old man offered. It was obviously a way to keep watch over the newcomers, they gave a good impression but it wasn't enough to win their trust, they still have time and plans up their sleeves, and the beginning of an infiltration was still likely.

"Oh, but we don't want to disturb anyone—" Naruto replied but Gatō interrupted her.

"Don't be silly, we're not going to let you stay in the streets, and Tazuna already agreed."

"I think that we don't have another option," Sakura said and smiled at the blonde. "Thank you very much. Hopefully, a room will be released very soon."

"Yes, yes. Here are your passes," the old man said handing three cards to Team Seven's members. "I hope you'll find the village comfortable."


	6. Tazuna's home

AN: Finally the new chapter, I hope that you liked the edited version of the previous chapters, thank you for your support, my dear lovely readers, I really appreciate it! A big thanks to my beta _MrsHellman_ who helped me very, very much ^^

Warning: In this story the Wave arc never happened, I'm going to introduce its characters in the upcoming chapters, but don't be confused they have nothing to do with that arc.

Disclaimer:

Masashi: I thought that I had gotten rid of you.

Itoo: You wish! I just had some problems that held me up for a while-

Masashi: -an eternity.

Itoo: *glares* I'm sorry, I did my best to write as fast as I could.

Masashi: You shouldn't have.

Itoo: Hey! You're mean!

Masashi: …

Itoo: I'll excuse you if you give Naruto to me.

Masashi: Keep on dreaming! *walks away*

Itoo: *sigh* I still don't own Naruto.

**Chapter five: Tazuna's home**  
_Written by Itooshii Koneko  
Betaed by MrsHellman_

It was sunset when Team Seven reached Tazuna's house – their new home. The house wasn't big but neither was it small; it was a two floor house painted in a crème color with a brown roof made out of rectangular tiles. Two long flowerpots were located at each side of the front door along the walls where beautiful red and white roses were planted. There was a small goal cage to play soccer at their right, and a swing and doghouse at their left; there was no dog in sight.

_They must have kids in the house, maybe a little boy, _Naruto thought, smiling brightly. At least their stay wouldn't be boring if there are little kids running around.

The neighbors were all staring at them from their windows and doors, some others stood erect in their garden to observe them shamelessly; most of them were curious and a few others were suspicious – it was overly clear on their faces.

Sasuke felt a cold chill on his back and turned around to meet a young man glaring at him, the Uchiha glared back succeeding to scare his 'neighbor'.

"Don't mind him; he acts this way whenever a young and handsome man crosses his path. He believes that he's the best looking guy in the neighborhood," Tazuna lazily replied, looking at the furious young man slamming his door noisily.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything – he didn't believe that justification anyway. The guy was furious but it didn't look like mere rivalry; something was up, and he was sure that it was related to their mission. He needed to talk with that man.

"Guys are so stupid sometimes" Naruto muttered looking at the strange guy's house, then turned back to Tazuna and complimented him with: "You have a beautiful garden."

"Thanks, my daughter likes flowers, she insisted on planting roses when we bought this house," the old man replied, opening the door. "Come on in," he invited his guests inside holding the door wide open.

The three ninjas looked at each other sharing the same thought. They were going to live in that house for a while, compelled to be followed and spied on twenty-four-seven. Their act must be perfect, especially Naruto's. To say the truth, Sasuke and Sakura trusted their blonde teammate when it came to their normal missions, but for this infiltration, they were not very reassured, and so they had planned to do their best in order to prevent Naruto's disastrous – but way too usual – slip of tongue.

xxx

Tazuna was not a talkative person, and Sasuke was very grateful for that. They were going to stay with quiet people, and that was something important for the young Uchiha – or Yūhi, his new last name. He and his two teammates were settled in the old man's living room, sipping silently on a tea too sweet for his liking, made by the old man's daughter. The long silence was starting to get suffocating for everyone in the room.

"Thank you for your hospitality Tazuna-san, Tsunami-san," Sakura broke the silence by the usual polite 'thank you' admiring the beautiful combination of the white and peach color in the living room.

The curtains were an immaculate white color with a second pair of silky peach curtains over them. The pinkette looked down to her tea cup and noticed the same color tone with the white couch and peach cushions. Even the flowers were white: a bouquet of jasmines disposed on the coffee table; their perfume was strong but gentle at the same time. It gave Sakura the impression to be in the middle of a jasmine's field. The design was of a good taste.

_Tsunami must be a perfect housewife, _she thought.

"Oh it's nothing, it's a pleasure to meet new people, it's quite boring here sometimes," Tazuna's daughter kindly replied, a small smile gracing her lips. She put her empty cup on the coffee table, and started filling Naruto's a second time.

Tsunami was very gentle, she reminded Sasuke of his mother. She was a beautiful woman with a sweet and comforting voice, endowed with a flawless skin, dark bluish hair and eyes, and had the same graceful aura as his mother. It was kind of disturbing for the raven – to say the least.

"Thanks. Everyone keeps telling us that people here are not used to foreigners. It's strange," Naruto commented taking the offered cup as she slid slowly to the edge of the couch.

"Yes, Ishi was never a touristic village," Tsunami replied, and then added: "I heard from Dad that you want to live here. Guess I should say 'Welcome to Ishigakure' then. Let me show you around," she said with a smile and got up from her position on the couch – followed by the three guests.

Before going further into the hallway, she turned back to her father and asked: "Dad, could you go to the kitchen and check the dinner, please. It's still on the stove but I think it's almost ready."

Tazuna stood up sighing heavily, then nodded and did as told. Naruto nostrils perked up at the watering smell coming from the kitchen, and her stomach growled loudly making everyone in the room look back at her. She rubbed the back of her head blushing deeply, and looked down at the white carpet.

"Er . . . s-sorry," she apologized kicking herself mentally. _Now I'm going to look like a pig, only good for eating._

The woman giggled, very amused by the young lady's antiques, she liked the idea of housing these strangers even more for every second passing. Her routine was finally going to be broken, and she was delighted.

"It's okay," she reassured the blonde girl, smiling like a mother would do with her daughter. Then, she approached her and crouched down, taking a piece of pottery, and filled it with some cookies served earlier to accompany the tea.

"Here," she said handing the handmade cookie jar to Naruto. "Hopefully, it'll soothe your hunger until dinner's ready."

Naruto took the cookies – face flushed and unable to lock eyes with Tsunami's. Her heart missed a beat at the sight of her gentle smile. All these kind intentions were starting to make the blue eyed girl feel anxious. This mission was harder than what she'd expected, which made her start to doubt her abilities in keeping up her cover.

"T-thanks," she thanked her host looking at the cookies like they were a precious present.

Sasuke and Sakura watched the whole interaction carefully. They still didn't understand Naruto's behavior, even though Sakura was starting to guess what was bothering her friend.

"You're welcome, please make yourself feel at home," Tsunami added very pleased by Naruto's shyness, and started to show them around.

"So here is the living room and the kitchen is in the opposite direction. Let's go upstairs to show you your rooms. Your bags have already been taking care of," she said pointing at the nicely varnished staircase, whose steps were covered by a thin white carpet.

The house wasn't big or impressive but nice and tidy; a small living room and spacious kitchen in the first floor; a vast bathroom and four bedrooms in the second floor.

"This is Dad's room," she said pointing at the first door at their left once they reached the second floor. "He snores sometimes so don't be scared if you hear some noises during the night," she whispered chuckling.

"And, this is my room," she said pointing at the first door at their right. "Since we don't have enough rooms, you're going to stay here Naruto-san and Sasuke-san"

"Oh no! You don't have to leave your room," Naruto tried to change the woman's mind but to no avail.

"This is your room for the meantime, don't refuse or I will feel offended," Tsunami replied authoritatively, but with a small smile.

"But—" the blonde tried once again to get the other woman to change her mind.

"No buts!" And it was enough to make Naruto submit docilely to her host. Her teammates watched her trying to imitate a fish out of her little pond; she couldn't form a coherent sentence which was very unusual for their stubborn teammate.

"Alright then, thank you very much Tsunami-san," Sasuke finally thanked their host, nodding respectfully.

The room looked so small; the big bed left almost no room to move in there, it was a ludicrous four-poster bed, with white transparent curtains hanging on both sides of the bed, covered by wine-red silky sheets; the raven ninja couldn't help but wonder how Naruto would look buried in that luxurious bedding.

He suddenly felt something warm form in the pit of his stomach, but ignored it. He swallowed the imaginary lump stuck in his throat, and looked back at Tsunami-san without letting out his uneasiness and hesitation.

"Sakura-san, you'll take the guest room, it's a bit small, I hope you don't mind," Tsunami apologized opening the second door at their left.

"Thank you it's perfect," the pink haired girl said smiling. The room was very simple, a small bed in the middle of the room, an empty study by the window, an impressive set of bookshelves facing the bed and a closet by the entree.

"It was my husband's study. I turned it into a guest room but kept his books," she said pointing at the bookshelves. The three ninjas sensed a tone of sadness in her voice, and exchanged quizzical looks but didn't say anything.

"It's alright, plus I love reading. Can I take a look at the books?" Sakura asked wondering why she had used the past tense speaking about Kaiza.

"Yes, of course, but most of them are architecture books," Tsunami replied, and then noticed her guests' quizzical looks.

"I thought that Kaiza was a fisherman?" Naruto quickly asked, she didn't think that Kaiza was intellectual. That doesn't mean that she had considered him as an idiot, but supposed that fishing was his only field.

"Kaiza is not my husband, we are engaged but not married yet," the older woman explained. "I was married before I met Kaiza, he died when I was pregnant five years ago," she looked down mindlessly.

"I'm sorry to hear that Tsunami-san," Naruto said putting her right hand on Tsunami's shoulder to comfort her.

"Oh, it's in the past now," Tsunami said offering a reassuring smile to Naruto, then looked back at the hallway to continue the little tour.

"This is Inari's room, my son, and I'll be staying in his room," she said pointing at the second door at their right, then at the door at their left. "This is the bathroom; the last room beside my son's is my atelier. I'm a dressmaker, hope you won't mind the sound of the sewing machine."

"You sew, wow! Could you teach me please, I have always wanted to learn stuff like that, I can never find enough orange clothes." You should have guessed who was talking by now, it was Naruto of course. Both Sakura and Sasuke arched a brow at this.

"Sure," she said chuckling then concluded. "Well, that's our humble residence."

"It's really nice Tsunami-san," the pinkette complimented looking at the lilac's bouquet rested on the commode between Tsunami and her son's room.

"Thank you, please wait for me downstairs, I'm going to change the sheets, I'll be quick."

They went downstairs, and headed to the living room where Tazuna was waiting for them. A young boy suddenly stormed into the house, slamming the door behind him and shooting: "I'm home~". He ran into the house, not looking where he was going, hence dumped into Sasuke and landed gracelessly on his butt.

"Who the hell are you?" the newcomer shouted fearlessly, ready to break the man's nose – even though said man was three times taller than him – as if he was able to take him down.

Sasuke raised a refined eyebrow, and looked down at the little boy at his feet. He guessed that he was Tsunami's son. He wasn't as pale as his mother but had the same eyes. His hair was dark brown, half hidden by a big white hat. His white shirt and dark green salopettes were dirty with mud. He looked like a disrespectful brat.

"Hey Inari, don't be rude, they are our guests," Tazuna said while helping his grandson to stand up.

"You mean the strangers that everyone is talking about?" the young boy asked his grandfather; eyes as wide as saucer plates.

"Yes," the old man replied sighing. "Now, don't be rude and say sorry."

"Sorry, I didn't see where I was going," Inari said bowing slightly, then stood up rubbing the back of his head, and offered a half splitting grin, his eyes taking a half moon shape.

Sasuke hn-ed. _Maybe he's not that disrespectful._

"You must be Inari," Naruto asked crouching down to Inari's level. The young boy looked up and saw Naruto's smiling face.

_She is so cute!_ he thought, blushing.

"Y-yes, I'm Inari," he replied smiling, looked down quickly after meeting the young lady's eyes, and started fidgeting with the buttons on his salopettes.

"I'm Naruto," she introduced herself taking the boy's hand and shook it like he was a grown-up, which pleased her interlocutor very much.

"The brooding guy over there is Sasuke, and the pinkette is Sakura-chan," she added pointing at each one of them. Inari grinned.

"Now, Inari go upstairs, and take a bath before your mother sees you," Tazuna interrupted, rushing the young boy upstairs.

"Dinner is ready. You must be really hungry," the old man invited, heading to the kitchen without waiting for his guests to follow him.

"Aren't we going to wait for Tsunami-san and Inari-kun?" Sakura asked looking behind her to check if anyone of them was joining them.

"They'll be back in few minutes, let's set the table," Tazuna said opening the fridge's door and taking a water bottle and some orange juice. They heard a loud ding and all looked up at the top of the kitchen's entry. There was a big round clock, with shining silver numbers and hands which read exactly eight o'clock.

Tazuna showed them the location of everything they could need; tea, sugar, salt . . . etc. Once they finished setting the table, they were able to find most supplies in the kitchen without having to ask their hosts. They ended up talking about the best fruits and vegetables of the season, and some recipes the old man liked to try when he felt like cooking.

"Oh that's great everything is ready!" They all looked at the kitchen door's to find Tsunami and her son Inari standing. "Don't tell me that you were waiting for us?"

"We have just finished actually," Sakura replied folding the dishtowel hanging on the chair beside her.

xxx

Dinner was faithful to the very image of the perfect housewife given by Tsunami since Team Seven entered the house; it was a vegetarian dish, rich in protein, some rice with dash – a broth made of kumbu seaweed – and some tofu with shiitake mushroom. The cordon bleu was mentally glad with her choice of menu; it was a well-balanced dinner for the pregnant girl, hopefully light enough to spare her from nausea symptoms.

"Hmm, it's delicious, Tsunami-san!" the blonde complimented, after gulping down the first bit of her food. She was doing her best to keep her manners, but it was evident that she was very hungry – not to mention loved the food before her.

"Thanks, I'm glad that you like it," the host replied, smiling.

"So . . . you're going to live with us forever?" Inari asked Naruto with a sing-song voice and hope-filled eyes. He was very excited; couldn't even sit still in his chair. He kept on balancing his feet under the table and playing with his food.

"Oh no, not forever, we're staying here until a room is available at the hotel," Naruto replied, very amused by the little boy eagerness.

"Oh . . ." He looked down sadly, putting down his chopsticks. Everyone exchanged sad looks, except Tazuna who was too busy gulping down his dinner to notice his grandson disappointment. At least, that was what Team Sever thought, until the old man spoke.

"I'm sure that after a few months of hard work they'll be able to buy Rhee's house," Tazuna said not even looking up at his guests, and then he resumed to eat without waiting for them to reply.

"It would be so cool! We'll become neighbors!" The boy perked up instantly, causing Sakura and Naruto to chuckle.

"Which house are you talking about?" Sasuke asked, very interested by this suggestion.

"It's the one facing the park," Tsunami replied evenly.

"Is it for sale or rent?" the raven asked once more. The sooner they got out from Tazuna's house, the better; they needed space and privacy.

"For sale," she replied then added: "the price is reasonable, and no one is planning to buy it. I'm sure that you won't have any problem to make the deal."

Sasuke nodded before asking: "Tazuna-san, do you know anyone hiring right now?"

"You can help Kaiza with fishing if you want. We will visit some friends of mine tomorrow, there we can see if they have something better for you," the old man replied, sipping his sake quietly.

"Thank you Tazuna-san." The raven nodded his thanks.

"I heard that you're probably going to work at the hospital Sakura-san," the old man said, looking at the pinkette who nodded after putting down her cup of water.

"That's great! Tomorrow I'll show you around the village, and we can stop at the hospital. Oh, and Naruto-san? You should see a doctor to check if everything is okay, your trip was long and very tiring," Tsunami suggested looking at the blonde worriedly.

"Oh, no, I'm perfectly fine, and I already have Sakura-chan, she's a great doctor you know, I'm sure that everybody here will love her," Naruto finished with a splitting grin on her face and a pink hue on her cheeks. She didn't feel at ease at all when they talked about her 'condition'. _I hope that I'm going to get used to these kinds of questions._

"Why? Are you sick Naruto-chan?" little Inari quickly asked, the idea of their blonde guest hurt and suffering pained him deeply, she looked so kind and gentle. _Like an angel_, he thought looking at her deep blue eyes and blonde hair.

"No, no, don't worry Inari-kun, I'm fine," said angel replied chuckling slightly. "So you don't worry."

"But why did you ask if she needed to see a doctor Mom?" the clever boy asked his mother.

"Naruto-san is going to have a baby soon," his mother explained, but the boy didn't understand and only blinked twice before asking more questions.

"Really? But why did she need a doctor?" was the first one.

"Inari, don't worry. Your Mom was only making sure that she was fine after walking for so long," his grandfather interrupted the endless interrogation. Most likely having hopes in stopping the conversation, for the night at least. He didn't want to discuss the birds and bees just yet, with his grandchild.

"Okay," the youngest in the group nodded pleased by his mother's good intentions towards his 'angel'.

"Go to your room now, I'll be there in ten minutes tops," his mother ordered after looking at the clock; it was almost nine o'clock, the time to go to bed for the little boy.

"Okay," Inari said one more and bounced out of his chair before wishing a 'good night!' to their guests, then stormed out of the kitchen and run up the stairs.

"Inari! Don't run in the house!" his Mom shouted, glaring at the ceiling as if it was going to make her voice grow even louder.

"Sorry Mom!" was Inari's quick reply followed by a complete silence that pleased the young mother – judging by her little smile.

"Go to rest, I'll take care of the kitchen," Tsunami suggested and started to clear the table. Their guests nodded and rose from the table.

"Good night," Tazuna quickly said, slipping out of the kitchen.

"Thanks, good night then. Naru-chan," the only raven ninja in the room said, looking at his blonde teammate.

"Oh, go on, I want to stay with Tsunami-san," Naruto said pouting.

"No, you're tired; more sluggish than before. You need to rest," Sasuke spoke with a cold voice, staring at his stubborn teammate. They needed to talk about their plan, they were going to be separated tomorrow, and instead of getting the hint, she was being her oblivious and stubborn self, insisting on staying with their host to chat a little.

"I'm not tired!" she insisted crossing her arms on her chest, and glared back at her 'husband' "Go to sleep if you want, I'm not following you b—"

"'Baby' is the stupidest nickname I've ever heard," Sakura interrupted the quarreling duo, laughing nervously, "Don't you think Tsunami-san? Overused, you know," she said, wondering if she had managed to hide Naruto's slip of tongue.

The older woman blinked, then chuckled looking back at Sakura. "No, I think it's cute."

_It worked_, Sakura sighed mentally. She couldn't believe Naruto's carelessness. _She needs to think before opening her stupid mouth_. Sakura looked at her teammates to find Sasuke glaring at her with what she believed to be a pink hue on his cheeks, and Naruto blushing slightly; she quickly lowered her eyes when she met the pinkette's accusing eyes.

"You should listen to your husband Naruto-chan," Tsunami advised then started to wash the dishes. "The cookies are in the cupboard if you ever want to eat something sweet tonight, and I'll leave the apples on the table."

"T-thanks," Naruto bowed blushing "I'll go to bed after using the bathroom."

"Why of course! Good night, then," the older woman wished resuming her chores.

"Good night," Naruto said then followed Sasuke out of the kitchen.

The fake couple climbed up the stairs in silence, it felt awkward to be together without exchanging insults or fighting.

Sasuke got in the room first, and then stopped looking at that ridiculous bed; the annoying feeling in the pit of his stomach was back. The click of the door closing behind him brought him out of his uneasiness. He turned around to face his teammate. She was still looking down at the floor, ignoring him as she walked straight to her backpack lying under the window. She crouched down to pick out her night clothes.

Sasuke sighed and said quietly: "Think before talking, Dobe"

Naruto instantly turned around to face him, and glare at him furiously. "Don't insult me, Teme!"

"Don't shout. I can hear you perfectly fine. Do you want Tazuna to hear us?" he hissed, glaring at her once more.

She pouted and started shuffling through her bag angrily whispering. "You're a real bastard."

"That would be a 'baby', wouldn't it?" the raven mocked before inspecting the room with his Sharingan, then concluded. "The room is safe."

"I don't think that they're stupid enough to hide bombs and blow up their own house in smithereens," the blonde haired kunoichi replied sarcastically.

"I'm talking about cameras or microphones," he corrected harshly, dropping the insult to spare himself from his teammate's outburst and an eventual headache. Naruto sighed loudly rubbing the bridge of her noise, then ruffled her bangs.

"I'm going to take a shower," she said and received a nod from Sasuke as an acknowledgement.

When she was out of the room, Sasuke looked back at that disturbing bed. He sighed.

xxx

Sakura stayed with their host, stating that she had nothing else to do while Naruto was in the bathroom. They didn't talk much, and went upstairs as soon as they had finished. The water was running in the bathroom, confirming that Naruto was still there. Sakura went to her room while Tsunami went to her son's; she closed the door, and then sat on her bed looking cautiously around her. Nothing seemed to be out of place. She inspected the room more carefully, and once she confirmed that the room was safe, she went to her teammates' room to talk with Sasuke.

"I think that the hormones are making her moody, she always had a bad temper, now it's going to be worse," was the first thing Sakura said as she entered. "I'll see if I can prepare something to calm her temper."

"It would be great, based on Team Eight's report, the villagers are not going to tolerate and respect a tomboy—" he was interrupted by the clicking of the door when Naruto walked in the room.

"I heard you," she stated sternly, and started rubbing her hair furiously with the white fluffy towel around her shoulders. Their continuous comments about her were starting to seriously get on her nerves; plus, a small side of her was hurt.

Sakura looked at her raven teammate then at Naruto. "Naruto, it's the pills, they are making you abnormally moody. I'll try to find a solution to get rid of this side effects."

"Really? I would really appreciate it," she said yawning, and threw the towel carelessly on the floor.

"You have to stop the insults Naruto," the pinkette reprimanded once again and turned to Sasuke.

"I know, I know. But you could have come up with something better than 'baby", the blonde girl replied, quoting the nickname with her hands.

"Sorry, it was the first thing that came up to my mind and starts with a 'b'!" the pinkette glared. "Don't take your pills today okay."

The blonde nodded pulling her pills out of her bag, and placed them in the drawer of the nightstand beside her.

"How are you feeling?" Sakura asked approaching the blonde.

"I'm fine, just tired, that's all," she replied yawing again.

"If you don't have anything important to say Sakura, I'll go take a shower as well," Sasuke asked waiting for her teammate to reply. So far everything was going smoothly, if only the dobe could be more careful, things would be even better.

When Sasuke was out of the room, Sakura went to examine the blonde. Everything was fine aside from her slightly high blood pressure, but it was to be expected.

"Everything is fine," the medic-nin concluded, smiling.

"Told you," the blonde yawned again.

"Your hair is still wet you know," Sakura said pointing at her teammate's hair cascading down her shoulders, and ended up lying gracefully on the red silky sheets. Naruto looked like an angel, very feminine and beautiful. She even managed to make her white t-shirt and orange sweat pants look feminine.

Sakura picked up the towel thrown earlier on the ground, and threw it back at Naruto. "Dry your hair, or you'll catch a cold."

"Oh please Sakura-chan, I let them dry up by themselves since forever. Besides, I never get sick remember," she finished pointing down at her stomach, hinting about the seal.

Sakura sighed shaking her head slightly. "That doesn't mean that you don't have to learn good habits. Oh well, good night then."

"Good night Sakura-chan," the blonde said grinning and threw the towel on the ground for the second time that night.

Sakura exited the room noting that the water was off in the shower, she went to her room and prepared her nightgown. When she heard the door of her teammates' room opening then closing, she guessed that it was now her turn to clean herself up, and went to the bathroom locking the door behind her. Apparently, Sasuke had forgotten his clothes and went to his room with nothing else then a towel on his back.

Naruto was making herself comfortable in the bed; she had decided that she was going to take the bed while the teme could find a spot on the ground to sleep on. There was no way for her to share a bed with that asshole.

She had found a comfortable position, the lights were off, an absolute silence reigned in the room; eyelids were starting to grow heavier, and then someone opened the door harshly.

"What the hell? I was sleeping, Teme," she didn't have to think twice to identify the culprit, only one asshole in the world was good at annoying her – anytime and anywhere.

"Quiet, Dobe," said 'Teme' hissed back.

Naruto sighed then switched the lights on; she looked back at her teammate then blinked once, twice. "The hell, Teme! Put some clothes on for fuck sake," she closed her eyes and buried her face in the sheets.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, and went to his backpack to take out his clothes, he was about to go back to the bathroom to change when he heard the water running.

"What are you waiting for asshole?" Naruto asked impatiently, and then blinked when she understood why Sasuke was still in the room.

"Great! Just great! You better not do anything disgusting," she said, turning her back to Sasuke and threw the sheets over her head.

"What are you talking about, Dobe?" Sasuke asked indignantly, a vain pulsing on his forehead.

"Don't know, but I do know that I have a naked guy behind me so you better watch out," was the blonde's muffled reply.

Sasuke smirked very amused. "Don't worry, Dobe, I'm not attracted to you, I won't try anything. Besides, I'm not gay."

It took her three seconds to register what the raven had said. "The hell you asshole! What is that supposed to mean?" she hissed sitting up on the bed and glared at him furiously.

"Do you know what privacy means?" he asked haughtily with a raised eyebrow. He was only in boxers, his sweat pants halfway up.

"Stupid, Teme," she muttered, blushing, and threw back the sheets over her head.

Two minutes later, the lights went off, and Naruto felt the sheets being lifted and someone sliding in the bed beside her. She turned around to find Sasuke's bare back. She glared and switched on the lights again.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked plopping herself on her elbow, then brushed off the bangs covering her eyes to give more room to her glare.

"Sleeping," the raven replied without facing his teammate.

"_I_ take the bed; _you_ find somewhere else to sleep," she stated – there was no room for arguments.

"I'm not sleeping on the ground, and we're 'married'. We're _supposed_ to sleep together." He stopped, realizing the suggestive words he had just uttered. He was glad to have his back facing Naruto.

"Argh alright, but don't sprawl to my side of the bed," she said after regaining her composer. "This is my side," she added pointing harshly at her side, and accentuating every word.

The raven didn't reply, he was tired and his teammate was consuming the last bit of energy left in him with her stupidity. Said teammate then switched off the lights and went back to sleep. For a couple of minutes, she kept on tossing and turning to find the most comfortable position to sleep. As annoying as it was, Sasuke stayed silent nonetheless – he knew that talking wouldn't make things better – and waited for her to fall asleep.

When she stilled, he exhaled and inhaled slowly to release his stress. He was just about the fall asleep himself when he remembered that weird guy who had glared at him when he came up to Tazuna's house. He'd seemed young, strong and had an aura that reeked of potential of becoming protective of his village. Maybe he was a member of the organization he and his teammates are trying to catch.

When he felt the stress of the mission take control of his emotions, he started to summarize their plan. He thought about the questions he'd have to ask, and the places he'd have to visit to learn more about the village.

A couple of minutes later, he was finally asleep.

* * *

Done! I can't believe it! I hope that you liked it, don't forget to review guys!

Big thanks for my amazing beta _MrsHellman_ *bow* you rock!


	7. Good morning Ishigakure

**AN: Hello my lovelies! How are you doing this fine day? Here is the sixth chapter for you, thanks for going this far with the story, and don't forget to review, I love reviews, they're my muse. ;) Also,****nothing could have been possible without the help of the greatest beta ever **_**MrsHellman**_** thanks ^^**

**Disclaimer: No I don't own Naruto, really, he's not mine. Ask Masashi Kishimoto he'll confirm it … **

**Warning: In this story the Wave arc never happened, I'm going to introduce its characters in the upcoming chapters, but don't be confused they have nothing to do with that arc.**

**Reply to anonymous reviews:**

**m:** I agree with you about respect of course, but they're not partners yet, and bickering had always been their way of communication. Don't worry it's going to wear off by time, this mission is going to make them learn how to communicate with each other like civilian people, but I confess that sometimes they'll go back to their old self, especially when they're experiencing new feelings that they never felt before, it would be their way to express denial.

**For the person who didn't give their name:** You're welcome, I'm glad you liked it ^^

**Poogle:** I love it when my readers tell me that they loved the chapter hehe! Here is the update, sorry for taking so long *bow*

**Chapter six: Good morning Ishigakure**  
_Written by Itooshii Koneko  
Betad by MrsHellman_

Naruto woke up in the middle of the night sweating as if she had been running a marathon.

She looked at the window facing her, it was open but no fresh air was flooding in; the curtains were hanging completely motionless proving that there was no breeze.

The blonde lifted the sheets covering her to let some air hit her heated skin. Sleeping with pants on in the summer was unbearable, and she was now regretting her choice of clothing. She'd never felt comfortable in casual clothes when there were people around, and since she was going to share a room with Sasuke, she had thought that sleeping with pants on was a pretty good idea – instead of in her underclothes, as she normally did when the weather is too hot.

It had obviously turned out as an idea with consequences though.

She turned on her other side to find Sasuke's back facing her. _He hasn't moved an inch? Would have guessed that he's one of those to not move when sleeping_, she thought, looking at his peaceful frame. _I. . . I guess I can change; he won't notice if I don't make any noise_. And with that last thought she got up slowly and went to her backpack lying on the floor.

Contrary to Naruto's believes, Sasuke's ninja reflexes set off his internal alarm system, and pulled him out of his peaceful slumber as soon as Naruto had lifted the sheets and stood up; her movements were gentle and slow, indicating to the raven that there was no danger in sight. A zipper's sound was heard, followed by some shuffling. He sighed as he realised that she was looking for something in her bag.

"Where the hell are you stupid shorts?" the blonde whispered to her backpack as if it was going to answer her. The moon's light wandered around the room, illuminating the objects in said room, creating silhouettes and shadows. However, it was not enough to distinguish a pair of shorts in a total mess also known as the backpack of a klutz.

Sasuke's brows knitted together. He closed his eyes at that thought of her changing and started to feel hot over his neck area. Couldn't the blonde go to the bathroom to change? Common courtesy please.

He was glad to at least have his back facing her. Watching his teammate change would be inappropriate, but a little side of him was curious to turn around and take a look at the female in the room. He quickly closed his eyes trying to clear his mind from these disturbing thoughts.

It was the hormones talking. Definitely the hormones. He was quite sexually deprived to be honest with himself, so nothing wrong with wanting to take a look at the other sex, right? No matter whom it was.

He clenched his teeth.

_Even if it's Naruto? _he thought to himself.

The young Uchiha had been followed by many girls but he had never taken advantage of the situation. They would bat their eyelashes to look cute or show off their cleavage to look sexy, but their pitiful attempts to seduce him ended up in disgusting him rather than charming him – hence he preferred ignoring them. Plus, he had more important things to do. His ninja's training was his top priority and that was exactly what he liked to do most of the time.

The raven suddenly felt a weight sink in the bed behind him and remembered Naruto. He'd been so engrossed by his internal debate that he'd become oblivious to her movements. As soon as she lied on the bed, he heard her sigh quietly, in content, obviously feeling better after changing into a lighter garment. He too wanted to get rid of his pants and sleep in something lighter, but he didn't feel comfortable enough to do so with Naruto beside him. He preferred to endure the heat.

Minutes passed and the blonde not moving signaled that she had fallen asleep. Sasuke was still awake, exhausted yes, but still awake nonetheless – he couldn't fall back to sleep for some reason. He turned onto his back and opened his eyes slowly – letting them adjust to the darkness – before staring lazily at the curtains hanging above him; see-through and sensual – an extravagance that the raven wasn't used to at all. For someone who grew up in a traditional and sober environment, that design was just alien.

He sighed again and closed his eyes for the nth time that night, but finally managed to go back to sleep for good, but not without stealing a quick glance at the blonde head next to him.

xxx

The next morning, Sasuke woke up at seven thirty - sharp. A bit later than usual, since he had a very disturbed sleep.

He emerged slowly from his sleep and noted some differences from his usual surroundings. He was lying on a softer bed, and there was something stuck at his side, tickling his neck; it smelt of chamomile according to the raven's sense of smell. He opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow at the sight before him; a mop of blonde hair. He remembered the mission and concluded – much to his embarrassment – that it was_ him_ that had somehow sneaked to her side of the bed. Naruto in return had kicked the sheets off, and snuggled up to his side putting her head on his shoulder, arm on his chest and a leg curling around his thigh – dangerous close to a certain area he might add.

Perfect match, as they say.

His heart started beating furiously as soon as his foggy mind registered their intimate position. He felt something bubble in the pit of his stomach while a lump was starting to form in his throat. He swallowed and slowly tried to slide away from Naruto. The blonde instantly moved her hand up his chest ever so gently that it made Goosebumps appear all over the young Uchiha. Her hand was softer than he thought; he fought with her so many times but never noticed much about her physical traits. He couldn't help but think about the proverb _'an iron hand in a velvet glove'_

The raven had completely forgotten that his blonde teammate was indeed a girl, that fact was almost illogical for him. It was in that exact moment his mind chose to register Naruto's breasts being pressed against his right arm. He felt his ears burn as his mind unconsciously memorized the foreign feeling, burning it in his genius brain forever – all thanks to his Uchiha genes and Sharingan kekkei genkai. Yes, please do note the sarcasm.

He swallowed that growing lump – which seemed to find his throat very welcoming, since it had made it its permanent residence known since yesterday – and pulled her hand gently from his chest, her leg sliding off his thigh with ease. The blonde curled up, fisting the sheets under her. Her features were so soft and peaceful, the raven couldn't help but stare, as far as he remembered he had never seen her so relaxed, with her guard completely down.

Naruto turned her back towards him, pulling him out from his reverie; he had more important matters to do than studying his teammate's features. The raven quickly went to his own backpack to pick his clothes and headed to the bathroom.

"Oh, good morning Sasuke-san," Tsunami greeted him on her way to the bathroom too, she was carrying clean towels with her. "Sakura-san is already downstairs. Is Naruto-chan awake yet?"

"Good morning. No she's still sleeping," the raven replied in a raspy morning voice.

"Alright then, shall we let her sleep for a few more minutes then," she said – it was not a question – putting the towels on the rail, and left the bathroom to let Sasuke shower.

xxx

"Good morning Sasuke-kun," Sakura greeted as soon as her teammate entered the kitchen. She was having breakfast with Tazuna and Tsunami, well, rather: Tsunami did not seem to have the time to eat, all she did was shat the time away.

The raven nodded his acknowledgement and took place beside Tazuna.

Tsunami rushed to serve him breakfast with a gentle smile on her lips. The meal was copious; streamed rice with natto – fermented soy beans – with some nori – dried seaweed – and boiled fish. He nodded his thanks, finding the old man's daughter even more similar to his mother than he liked to admit. He wondered if all the girls in Ishigakure were this neat and gentle, he also wondered if Naruto would be able to act the same way. If not, she'd stand out more than they'd planned.

"I'm going out for supplies after breakfast, you can accompany me to meet some friends of mine if you want," Tazuna suggested idly, looking at the raven.

"Yes of course, but I prefer to wait until Naru is awake if you don't mind. She tends to have morning sickness almost every day," Sasuke replied, pulling his loving and protective husband role perfectly well.

The old man eyed him carefully through his glasses then said after a short silence: "Yes. Of course."

Tsunami resumed talking with Sakura about some neighbors she wanted her to meet – especially one of her friends who was pregnant, and wished to introduce to Naruto.

The dark-haired woman was very enthusiastic, reminding the pinkette of the fact that the villagers were not used to foreigners. In a certain way, they were considered the new attraction in the village; it was just a matter of making the attraction permanently positive.

Soon, young Inari joined them – half asleep since it was still early morning – and after greeting everyone the young boy noticed that Naruto was missing, he instantly asked about her.

"Naruto-chan is still asleep?"

His mother chuckled slightly, noting that her son had developed a soft spot for their blonde guest. "Yes. So don't make any loud noises, we'll let her sleep as long as she likes."

Inari nodded and started to eat silently, making the two women chuckle slightly.

"Can I visit Pochi today?" the young boy hopefully asked after a couple of minutes of chit-chatting and eating.

"Grandpa will be busy today, but I'm sure that Kaiza will take you to the veterinarian if you ask him," the older woman in the room replied.

"Okay . . . I miss him! I hope that he's healed now," the young boy said with a pout and Sakura looked confused as she felt lost in the conversation.

"Who is Pochi?" she asked, guessing it was a dog, since they were talking about veterinarian. She had seen the doghouse in the garden yesterday.

"He's my puppy!" Inari replied proudly. "I found him in the park; he was hiding in the bush. I was playing soccer with my friends, and Ageha-chan shot the ball the wrong way, and it ended up in the bushes." He ate some more then resumed his narration. "I told Akane-kun that girls don't know how to play soccer, but he didn't want to listen!" He took a bite once more then added, "so I went to bring the ball and I heard a weird noise, like someone was whining! It was Pochi! He was so scared, his paw was injured," another bite, "Kaiza helped me to find a ve-te-ri-na-rian, he is a doctor for animals!" he explained proudly, "Grandpa made an awesome house for him. I hope that Pochi is better, I want to bring him home today . . ."

And that was the scrambled story behind Pochi and his identity – the boy's puppy.

"You have to be patient and wait until Pochi is completely healed," Tazuna advised, he didn't want to see his grandson sad if the doctor wanted to keep the puppy another day. He'd explained that since the animal was in the street, it was better to check his condition and vaccinate him before bringing him into their home.

"Yeah, yeah . . . I know," the little boy retorted, rolling his eyes impatiently.

Suddenly, quick footsteps were heard on the first floor, followed by a door slamming forcefully.

Everyone blinked and looked at each other before looking at Sasuke who clicked his tongue before leaving the table. He walked upstairs to see what was wrong with the blonde since he knew that she was the source of that commotion.

xxx

Naruto felt the sun tickling her eyelids; she opened her eyes and was greeted by a ray of sun light and birds' cheeps. She blinked and frowned at the sight of her foreign surroundings; and then she remembered the mission and looked at her left – where Sasuke was supposed to be sleeping. She blinked as she saw no one there, and then let her eyes wander across the room; he was nowhere to be seen.

The blonde checked the clock on her bed side, and her eyes widened instantly. It was nine o'clock, and she was supposed to have woken up early! They had planned so many things to do: get to know Tsunami more, visit the village, meet some villagers, et cetera et cetera.

She got up quickly but stopped dead in her track as she soon felt a rush of nausea and dizziness taking over her body. She stilled, but the uncomfortable feeling didn't go away and as her stomach churned she got it; she was going to puke.

xxx

Sasuke found the blonde girl crouched by the porcelain bowl, puking her heart out. He was at her side in the blink of an eye, holding the blonde's hair away from her face, assuring her that it was going to be okay. He let his other hand rub soothing circles on her back.

He didn't ask her anything, but merely let her finish. It took her a while and as she wasn't throwing up anymore he helped her to stand up and wash her face.

It took a while for Naruto to realize who it was that had helped her. As she looked at the reflection of her face in the mirror she noticed the raven who couldn't help but roll his eyes. Of course he was the one to find her.

"Pardon sorry for the commotion," she apologized sarcastically, swinging slightly on her feet.

Sasuke put his arm around her waist to hold her on her feet. She stood up blushing, doing her best to stay in place and not tear Sasuke's arm away from her.

"Be careful Naruto," Sasuke advised looking at the blonde, delicately sliding his arm away from her waist.

Naruto nodded avoiding eye contact with her teammate; instead she found the floor rather fascinating. A small blush crept up her cheeks as she realised his other hand was still on her back rubbing circles.

_He's just acting, he's just acting, he's just acting. Sheesh, I have to get used to it quickly, _she thought to herself and rubbed an eye as she held the other hand to her stomach.

Sakura – just entered the room at the same time as Sasuke asked the blonde a question that made her put red roses to shame.

"Do you need my help to shower?" Sasuke asked like it was something common for him. He felt like teasing his blonde teammate, he didn't know where that thought came from, but he found it very entertaining. He smirked when the blonde looked up abruptly with wide eyes and her mouth slightly open in astonishment; her blush was rivaling Hinata's even.

Sakura was also taken aback but managed to hide it quiet well.

"Do you still feel nauseous?" she asked and looked at the blushing blonde with an amused smile.

"Yeah, a little, but I'm not going to puke again. I think." She furrowed her brows. "I'm really tired too," the blonde answered weakly.

"That's normal. And how did you feel yesterday night?" the medic-nin asked again leading her teammate to her room as she then turned to the raven who came out from the bathroom, smirking amusedly.

"Sasuke-kun, bring me the white bag on my desk please," she asked Sasuke once they entered the blonde's room.

"Fine, I guess. I felt hot but it was normal, right?" Naruto replied looking at her teammate questioningly.

"Yes, it was just the weather, don't worry," she replied taking the bag that Sasuke handed her and proceeded to check Naruto's blood pressure, glucose rate, chakra flow and finished with Kyūbi's seal. The girl was just tired, her chakra was weaker than normal but there was nothing to worry about. The pinkette gave her teammate vitamins hoping to get rid of her continuous exhaustion.

"Here are vitamins that should help you gain some energy. Take one pill every morning after breakfast for the next couple of days," the medic-nin said and handed the vitamins to Naruto. "Your chakra is weak so don't try anything stupid. Actually, I don't want you to use your chakra at all."

"What? You're kidding right?" the blonde cried indignantly, but then whispered; "I need chakra to summon my clones and frogs."

"It's unnecessary, so you can avoid it. Don't forget that we don't know what could happen to you, we have to be extra careful. I don't want something bad to happen."

Naruto blushed in defeat and looked down at her lap "Okay." It didn't look like she was going to get used to all these kind intentions any time soon.

Sasuke cleared his throat, signaling to his teammates that someone was approaching. He took place at Naruto's side before a knocking was heard at the door.

"Come in," Sakura called out, putting her medic bag away.

"So you were here, I was getting worried. How are you feeling Naruto-chan?" Tsunami spoke after peeking inside the room. She smiled when she saw Sasuke's hand brush Naruto's gently followed by the girl's blush – narrowed eyes glaring at the raven. Tsunami laughed.

"She's fine, don't worry," Sakura reassured her host.

"That's great. Oh, and I've got a potion ready downstairs. It'll help with the morning sickness," Tsunami stated. "Well, other than that, I'll wait for you downstairs then," she said with a smile and left the room.

Naruto tore her hand from Sasuke's and stood up abruptly, "Sasuke, stop it! It's annoying and – and – and _disgusting_!"

The raven looked at his blonde teammate lazily but didn't reply. He was only doing his job; he was certainly not delighted to act that way but it was his duty. So she had no reason to get all worked up over a simple touch.

"Naruto!" Sakura reprimanded. "Stay professional! Hokage-sama trusted you with this mission, so put yourself together and act like a real ninja, will you?"

The blonde quieted then apologized. "Yeah, yeah . . . sorry."

She didn't understand why she was overreacting, she suspected her messed up hormones to be the dealer. "I'll do my job, I promised Baa-chan." She was determined to accomplish her duty and finish this mission as soon as possible.

The blonde couldn't forget that they were here to stop a very dangerous organization. Many villages were involved and in grave danger; she couldn't be selfish, she had to swallow up her pride and act like a shy and loving wife; it was for good reasons.

Sakura nodded, satisfied by her friend's determination, while their male teammate looked at the blonde with a calculating glance. They were all wondering what would happen once the blonde got more used to the idea of being a wife and started to act like one.

xxx

Sasuke and Sakura left Naruto take a shower and joined their hosts in the kitchen. The blonde couldn't help but blush after locking the bathroom's door. She remembered the raven's words – _"Do you need my help to shower?" – _he had so _generously_ offered.

"Bastard," she muttered, taking off her clothes. "Heartless teme, making fun of me when I'm purging my guts out," she hissed going in the shower.

She had just woken up and she was already feeling tired and stressed. The kunoichi hated feeling weak, it was really irritating. Fortunately, the lukewarm water of the shower helped her relax and take the tension out of her stiff muscles.

After changing her mind three times, the blonde chose to wear a dress to blend in well. She had noticed that all the women – yes, that's right, _all_ of them – were wearing dresses; as if pants had been created for mannequins only. She was not going to wear dresses all the time; she's rather streak down the street outside.

. . . with the teme in a safe location elsewhere. The pervert.

After making sure that her appearance was okay, she went downstairs for breakfast. Everybody was already in the kitchen.

Tsunami was writing a list of supplies for her father as she noticed the blonde. "Oh Naruto-chan! Do you need something in particular? Dad is going to the market," the older woman asked.

"No. But thanks," she replied, watching Sasuke approach her. She cringed mentally. Tsunade-baa-chan never asked him to be a _clingy _husband.

xxx

After Sasuke had made sure that his 'wife' was feeling better – the blonde has started to take Tsunami's potion – he prepared to follow Tazuna and Inari, to buy what the other raven needed for lunch.

Said 'wife' was behind them. She wanted to bid her 'husband' goodbye before leaving.

She was at the doorstep looking at Sasuke, blushing slightly. The raven could almost see the gears in her head turning; it was clear she wanted to do something but didn't know how, or maybe she couldn't find the courage to?

He raised an eyebrow. She was so out of character; like a school girl waiting for her first kiss after her very first date. He smirked, amused by his teammate.

_Is it really that hard for you to act like a wife, Dobe?_ He almost chuckled.

She frowned – as if having read his mind – but then glared after noticing Sasuke's smirk. She suddenly smirked back and stood up on her tiptoes, put her hands on his shoulders; kissed him on his left check gently, and whispered; "Have a nice day . . . love." All this while looking at him straight in the eyes, as if daring him to back down from a competition.

He knew that his teammate had added the 'love' at the end to hint to his infamous insult 'bastard'. He didn't care. As long as she was playing her role, she could call him 'love' all day long.

He nodded and kissed her forehead putting both hands on her cheeks, then replied kindly; "You too, don't exhaust yourself". Needless to say, Naruto nearly choked on air as the raven accepted her 'invitation' to this 'competition'.

"I have to go now," he added and climbed up Tazuna's carriage, leaving a dumbfounded and blushing Naruto behind.

After regaining her composure, Naruto went back to the kitchen, face flushed feeling a bit embarrassed after the little kisses she and her teammate had shared. It was chaste but still embarrassing and she didn't really know what to make out of it. Even though they were doing this for the sake of the mission, if felt extremely alien do give her friend – a very much male one on top of that – since years back, a kiss on the cheek.

Naruto frowned as she played with a couple of strand of her hair as she heard Tsunami giggle while placing a well-filled plate in front of her.

"How are you feeling Naruto-chan? You must be hungry, haven't eaten anything yet, and you've been up and about for over an hour now."

"I'm feeling better, thank you. And yeah, I've been up for a while now, so something to eat would be good," the blonde said and thanked her host, digging into her plate.

She wanted to eat everything and anything before her, her stomach being empty thanks to her earlier . . . state. She still had that awful acid taste in her mouth.

"Do you want anything else?" the woman asked gently as she filled a glass of orange juice and placed it in on the table.

Naruto smiled and took a gulp of it before answering. "No, but thank you very much for your hospitality," Naruto replied, touched by all the kind intentions of their host. Tsunami was one of the kindest and gentlest person she had ever met.

She looked down at her plate as she wondered if being a mother made you act like this. _She is really an amazing wife and mother, I'm— Sakura-chan is right I guess. _The blonde sighed as she continued to dig into her food, with less enthusiasm though._ I'm not like her. I can't be such a good mother. Such a good wife._

"Naruto? Are you okay?" The blonde was pulled out of her reverie by Sakura's worried question. She had put her hand on her arm gently squeezing it to bring her back to reality.

"Huh? I'm fine, don't worry Sakura-chan," she answered, rubbing the back of her head while offering her friend a weak smile. She didn't understand where those thoughts came from, but she honestly couldn't help it either; she was suffocating because of her doubts concerning her parenting skills.

The blonde blinked. She wasn't concentrating on the mission at all, she realised, and smacked herself mentally. _Damn it, get a grip Naruto! This is about getting information for the Fire nation, not about you being a mother!_

Sakura raised an eyebrow, expressing to her friend her disbelief.

Naruto pouted as she looked at the woman's arched brow, she wasn't one to be gifted with that ability. She always arched both.

"I know what's bothering her," the only raven in the room spoke after chuckling slightly; her two guests looked at her quizzically. "You're worried about the future because of all these major changes in your life, am I right?"

The blonde blinked once more. "Y-yeah, it's new for me, I . . ." the blonde answered, looking at Sakura as she mentally begged for help.

"Don't worry Naru-chan, everything is going to be okay I promise," the pinkette cooed and hugged her friend, wondering what the blonde was really thinking about. She had looked worried and a bit sad.

_Is it the pills? Are her hormones messing with her emotions? _the pinkette wondered as she let her gaze wonder down to the blonde's stomach for a few seconds. _Probably, _she concluded.

"Absolutely, you've made the right decision, trust me. This village is heaven to raise your children. So don't worry about that, it's not good for the baby," Tsunami said enthusiastically. She had expected that the soon-to-be mother was to be stressed, it was understandable, it was her first child and everything.

"Okay." Naruto could only smile. Tsunami thought it all was about the baby; it made the blonde sigh in relief. She'd doubted herself for a moment there and thought that the other woman knew that something was up between her and Sasuke.

_This mission is not so bad after all_, the blonde said to herself as Tsunami placed some onigiri in front of the blonde. It was refreshing to be around such a kind person; Naruto felt like she was going to be able and trust the raven. Who couldn't, really?

After finishing her breakfast, the blonde offered to help Tsunami with the chores, who kindly accepted. The other woman literally gave her lessons about housekeeping, something completely foreign to the young ninja, while Sakura wasn't having any troubles following the woman's indications.

"My mom likes it when everything is neat and clean," the pinkette stated while dusting the living room; which wasn't that dusty at all. Tsunami appeared to clean very often.

"I'm living with two neat freaks. Oh . . . no three, I almost forgot Sasuke," Naruto whispered back, giggling.

"Did you say something Naruto?" Sakura hissed to her friend in a low voice.

"Nope! Nothing," the blonde answered and smiled nervously, feeling Sakura's self-control cracking. The medic-nin was clenching her fists, obviously trying to refrain herself from crushing said fist on her dumb friend's skull.

_Never call Sakura a neat freak_, Naruto noted, going back to her dusting duty.

They had to air, dust, and mop and wipe every single room. It felt weird since everything was already so clean. It reminded Naruto of their first missions as Team Seven when they were only genins, having to clean houses for old ladies. She felt a bit nostalgic as she thought about it; it felt only like yesterday but in reality it was four years that had flown by in a blink of an eye.

"-ruto? Naruto?" She heard someone calling for her so she turned around and met Tsunami's curious eyes.

"Hmm?" the blonde asked titling her head to the right. "Did you say something Tsunami-san?"

"I think that the vase is clean now," Tsunami spoke quietly, nodding towards said vase as if she was speaking to a child.

"Huh!" Naruto blinked looking at the sparkling crystal vase she was dusting. _Crap!_ "Yeah I guess so," she gently put back the ornament in its right place.

"Thank you for your help Naruto-chan. You can rest now, Sakura-chan wiped the floor downstairs, I'll take care of this floor and I'll join you in the kitchen. There is some lemonade in the fridge if you feel thirsty. I made it this morning," the older woman said gently, guiding the blonde to the stairs.

"I can still help—" she started to insist but was cut by Tsunami's contending 'no-buts' look. "Hehe. Okay then, if you say so."

Once the two kunoichi were alone in the kitchen, Naruto dropped her head on the table and mumbled tiredly.

"I'm sooooo tired. We didn't really have to clean it all though," she then stood up and started stretching her aching back, "everything is already so clean!"

"It's this clean because Tsunami-san cleans every day," Sakura explained putting her hand on Naruto's back and let her medic-nin skills take away the pain her friend was feeling. "She doesn't have a job so I guess that it's something she does to pass time."

"Oh, thank you Sakura-chan," the blonde moaned shamelessly, closing her eyes and relaxing under the pinkette's skillful hand. Said pinkette shook her head smiling at Naruto's antics.

"It's good exercise for you though."

"Cleaning? No thanks I prefer Taijutsu than this torture," the blonde said with a hand gesture.

Sakura giggled as she let go of her friend's back and walked over to the fridge, opening it she took out the pitcher of lemonade while Naruto took out three glasses from the cupboard.

"Do you think that all the women here are like her?" the blonde asked watching her friend filling the cups.

"I don't know," Sakura genuinely replied, putting a cup in front of Naruto. "But I won't be surprised if that's the case. We're in a village with a very different culture after all."

"Yeah." Naruto gulped down her lemonade in one go before answering properly, "but it's creepy to see everyone acting so nicely. I sure miss the badarse attitude that comes with being a ninja. Man, I'm going to suck so hard at acting like the others."

Sakura chuckled.

The situation was quiet amusing to be honest; her tomboy friend was going to act like the perfect housewife; it was something so unexpected that she would never have even dreamt to witness something as such.

This mission was probably going to bring up good sides of Naruto's personality though, sides that she had never expected to have in the first place. The pinkette was taking the mission seriously of course, but she hoped that it was also going to give the blonde a small break from everything; a little moment where she would be part of a family for once was something she needed. A very naïve thought for a ninja, yes, but she had a feeling that this mission would be very beneficial for her stubborn friend.

"Don't be stupid, you need to learn about housekeeping and cooking too, I believe that you only know how to cook ramen – instant ramen on top of that – which is not considered cooking by the way."

"Hey! I know how to take care of a house, don't forget that I've lived on my own since forever," Naruto stubbornly replied as she put her hands on her hips, giving her the perfect 'scolding posture' for a mother. Not that Sakura would actually _tell_ the blonde. "Plus, I have more important things to do – like training – rather than cleaning and cooking." _I never even had anyone to teach me how to cook and clean for others, _she mentally added, bitterly.

They heard Tsunami in the hallway and started talking about the 'weather' instead.

"I think that I need another shower," Sakura said.

"Yeah me too", the blonde added, wrinkling her nose as she suddenly felt troubled by the sweat on her skin.

Both kunoichi smiled to one another and then looked up to see Tsunami enter the kitchen.

"Ah! Tsunami! Perfect. Here's some lemonade," Naruto said with a huge grin on her lips, and gave the third glass to the woman who's just entered the kitchen. The raven woman took the glass and barely had a chance to say thank you before the blonde yelled over her shoulder a loud 'shotgun!' and then headed for the showers.

Sakura rolled her eyes as Tsunami shook her head unknowing of the other two women's previous conversation.

Soon they heard the front door followed by Tazuna's voice: "We're back".

Sasuke was behind him carrying some bags. Sakura and Tsunami rushed to help them, and then went to the kitchen to prepare lunch.

"Where's Naruto?" the raven asked when he didn't find his 'wife' with them.

"She's upstairs taking a shower," Sakura replied while sorting what they had bought. He mindlessly noted that she was very comfortable with the chores; maybe it could have been wiser to let her be the wife instead of Naruto. At least Naruto had more experience from living by her own.

He nodded and went upstairs. He quickly noted Tazuna leave, and since Inari stayed playing with his friends in town, it meant that Naruto and he would be the only one on the floor. They were alone and no one would disturb them.

The raven smirked.

He opened the door to his room believing that Naruto was still in the bathroom, and was welcomed with a rather unexpected view: a naked Naruto. Not completely naked – fortunately for the blonde – she had a towel flung around her shoulders so that her hair wouldn't wet her skin. But it wasn't making any difference now, was it?

Her back was turned toward Sasuke and as she twisted her upper body to see who had entered, the male couldn't help but realised that the towel covered her breasts – insert sad face, and yes, blame it on the hormones. It did nothing to cover a rather firm – and smooth, he might add – behind.

They both looked at each other with big terrified eyes in a complete silence during three seconds. Then hell broke loose.

"_**Get the fuck out!"**_Naruto nothing but roared at the male.

The raven had a feeling that Kyūbi helped achieve the fatalness in her voice as the door slammed shut in her face without him even noticing her moving.

BANG.

Sasuke could feel his heart pounding in his throat. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, but the image of a naked Naruto appeared in his mind and he felt a tightness grow in his lower abdomen. He had never seen a naked girl up-close before – of course that he had been curious and looked through some magazines and looked at women changing; it was only normal for a teenager boy, but to see the beauty of a girl's body with his own eyes was different.

She'd had both hands on her head, using a comb to remove the knots, but it had made her skin tighten along her upper body. Sasuke could honestly say that her being a ninja sure had left its mark on her body – in a very good way. He'd seen the full outline of her breasts as she'd turned around – having to imagine the nipples that was covered by the towel – and could also happily confirm that the bright color of her caramel-colored skin was all natural. And that _behind_—

Luckily – or not – Tsunami and Sakura showed up and pulled him out of his fantasy.

"What happened?"

"What's going on?"

Both females had asked their questions at the same time.

"No—" the raven replied but was cut off by the door being pulled open furiously by a very mad Naruto. Sasuke couldn't help but let his eyes move south. He noticed that she'd put on a pair of shorts and a large t-shi— oooooh. She wore nothing underneath.

"You—" she started then stopped looking at the other women and noticed that one of them was looking at her with arched brows and a disgruntled facial expression.

"I . . . I . . . sorry, I shouldn't have screamed," she apologized, rubbing the back of her head. She remembered that it was the second commotion she had caused that morning.

"What happened?" Tsunami asked again, curiously eyeing the blonde's appearance. She was blushing a vivid shade of red; her hair was a mess, and it was evident that she had thrown her clothes on carelessly. The t-shirt was inside out.

"Oh," the old woman said and was about to say something else, but then she noticed that Sasuke was staring at his wife's breasts. She blushed a little as she smirked. She looked at Sakura and said; "I think that they just need to be alone."

"Huh? What? Why? She was just screaming bloody murder," the pinkette retorted, but then realization dawned upon her.

"Common Sakura-chan, let's leave the lovebirds to have some quality time together," the older woman mischievously said, waiting for the pinkette to follow her suit.

Sakura was torn between being relieved, gleeful and curious. She looked at her teammates with eyes as big as saucer plates then followed Tsunami downstairs.

The two ninjas blinked at their retreating backs, then regained their composure.

"Don't you know how to knock, you perv?" the blonde angrily hissed.

"You should have locked the door. They told me that you were taking a shower, and from what I know, this is not the bathroom," the raven hissed back, his eye twitching from anger.

"Sure blame it all on me," the blonde said in a high-pitched voice. "_I had just finished!_ I thought that you were still out getting food!"

"Next time lock the door."

"How about you come up with a better retort, pervert?" she jeered, closing the door shut in his face and then locked it.

The raven couldn't help but smirk at the fact that Naruto's face had been redder than a tomato during the entire conversation.

He raked a hand through his hair as he leaned on his shoulder against the wall. He couldn't believe that Naruto – the tomboy dobe he'd been around since toddler years – had turned out to be such a woman. Again, this situation made him realize that his teammate was a girl underneath her boisterous behavior.

He tried clearing his mind by reciting the signs of his fire jutsu over and over again until the room's door was opened and a pissed off Naruto ran out, he was thankful that his hormones had calmed down by then.

"Stay, we need to talk," the raven said before she could run.

"If it's about privacy and not staring at boobs wishing the nipples were visible, then I'm all ears," she sarcastically replied and Sasuke couldn't help but look the other way. He even had the decency to blush.

"Well . . ." He entered the room closing the door behind him, making Naruto glare at him. "It's about the mission. Tazuna doesn't believe we're a happily married couple; he's very skeptic about it all."

"He doesn't believe us?"

"No, I think it's me he doesn't trust. Gāto must have told him that I was a shinobi, he must think that I'm a spy. And, he definitely knows that there's a tension between us—"

"Sexual on your part I believe?" the blonde asked and smirked. Sasuke glared. "Well, we're outsiders. And we're from a different village. Couples act differently depending on what principles they've been raised to believe in," she suggested, sitting down on the bed. She picked up the comb she's carelessly thrown there and started to work through her hair once more.

The raven nodded. "I'm probably going to work at the mine, I don't know if it's the same as the one mentioned in Team's Height report though."

"I hope that it's that one. Me and Sakura, we'll be visiting some neighbors later on. I'll try to find some information about the mine then."

"It's 'Sakura and I'," the raven automatically corrected. "Tazuna is taking me there after lunch. The one responsible of the building site is named Zabuza." He watched his teammate braid her hair.

"Okay, I'll try to know more about him as well."

"Did you find anything suspicious about Tsunami?"

The blonde sighed and finished her hair. She learned back on her arms before answering the male.

"No, she's very kind, and it looks like she believes us. But I wouldn't be surprised if she had been asked to watch us by Tazuna." The raven nodded his agreement.

They fell into silence, before Naruto once more noticed that Sasuke kept stealing glances at her uncovered legs and chest. She cursed as she realised she didn't have anything underneath.

"I can't believe that Tsunami thought that we were doing something sexual." She made a disgusted face, blushing as she laid down completely on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

"We're a young married couple, what else is there to expect?"

"As a _real _young married couple, you mean? She'd be rather accurate wouldn't she, but we're not married and we're not a couple, I feel rather real though . . ." the blonde retorted and Sasuke couldn't help but arch a brow at the blonde's sudden wit.

"At least, it'll give us a perfect excuse to stay alone without being disturbed."

Naruto sputtered, leaning up on her elbows once more. "You might have a point there. But as you said, it's an excuse and not a time for you to stare at my tits, you hormonal fuck," she said, and Sasuke snorted at her vocabulary. Perhaps the wit and colorful language surfaced when the blonde was embarrassed?

"Excuse for staring at your ass then?" the raven couldn't help but ask and Naruto blushed as she glared at him.

A growl filled the room and rubbing her empty stomach the blonde grinned sheepishly. "I'm starving. Feed your preggo wife, dear hubby o' mine."

"Hn." He smirked and followed his teammate downstairs.

* * *

Review please! I love reviews, they're yummy!


	8. Author note

This is not a chapter I'm so sorry guys

I know that no excuse is enough to explain my long absence, life was in the way of fanfiction, I worked on the next chapter which is more than halfway done, but my laptop crushed few months ago and I'm using my boyfriend's laptop, I haven't fixed mine yet

I hadn't explained to all of you what took me away from writing, as I explained to some reviewers, I had been wrongly diagnosed breast cancer, I almost lost my left breast, then had a miscarriage because of something wrong in my ovaries, it's something very hard to handle, and even harder to write about pregnancy after that. At the beginning of our relationship I was scared of being pregnant, but suddenly this problem made me afraid of never being able to have children, it's a horrible feeling, I even became obsessed with pregnancy it was totally crazy, I'm glad that I'm over that obsession (I guess?)

I have annoyed you enough with my life, now about the fic, let's condider it on hiatus until I fix everything (my laptop and myself)

Thanks again for bearing with me, I'm the slowest writer and unluckiest person ever

Itoo


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